The decision was the first time that a legal punishment has been handed down for violating the prohibition, the Associated Press reports, and comes only two days after King Abdullah announced historic voting reforms for women.
There is no written law on the books blocking women from driving; the ban is instead rooted in the Muslim country’s ultraconservative religious views that giving freedom of movement to women would make them vulnerable to sins.
The AP with more: "Normally, police just stop female drivers, question them and let them go after they sign a pledge not to drive again. But dozens of women have continued to take to the roads since June in a campaign to break the taboo."
Activists sounded off on the decision, claiming that the sentencing was retaliation from the religious conservatives who control the courts for the recent strides made toward gender equality. They also saw it as Abdullah pandering to the clergy and conservative citizens, even as he pushes for change.
"How come women get flogged for driving while the maximum penalty for a traffic violation is a fine, not lashes?" activist Zein el-Abydeen said. "Even the Prophet (Muhammad’s) wives were riding camels and horses because these were the only means of transportation."
Photo by Fayez Nureldine/AFP/Getty Images. (Saudi women wait for their drivers outside a shopping mall in Riyadh on September 26, 2011 a day after King Abdullah granted women the right to vote and run in municipal elections.)
DO YOU SUPPOSE WHEN THEY STRIP HER BACK BARE FOR THE WHIP, SHE WILL STILL HAVE TO WEAR HER HEAD SCARF?
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