Women in Saudi Arabia are now allowed to drive

At the stroke of midnight on June 24th, women in Saudi Arabia took to the streets to drive for the very first time after a decades-long ban on female drivers that had previously relegated them to the backseat.

The lifting of the ban was first announced last September. The reaction on this historical day was mixed, women flocked to the streets to celebrate their newfound freedom as Saudi traffic police handed out chocolate and flowers.

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Online, Saudi women around the country posted videos of themselves behind the wheel, decorated with custom Snapchat filters created to commemorate the occasion.

According to state media, Al-Ekhbariya TV, a spokesman for the Saudi Interior Ministry explained that 120,000 women had applied for driving licenses in Saudi Arabia.

 

Cosmopolitan