Women in Saudi Arabia stand up to authorities by breaking driving ban By: Mori Rothman

Women in Saudi Arabia stand up to authorities by breaking driving ban

By: Mori Rothman

 

WORLD -- October 26, 2013 at 4:30 PM ET

Women in Saudi Arabia took to the streets today in an act of defiance against the country's ban on driving. 

The ban on driving stems from conservative religious customs and isn't actually written in law -- but that hasn't stopped police from arresting women who get behind the wheel.

Despite public warnings from the Interior Ministry and conservative religious leaders, many women posted videos of themselves driving in different parts of Saudi Arabia, including Riyadh, Jeddah, and Al Hasa. The authenticity of these videos could not be independently verified by PBS NewsHour.



Activists have been urging Saudi women to film themselves while driving on Oct. 26 and post it online as part of a web-based campaign that collected more than 16,000 signatures on a petition before the site was hacked.

Dr. Madeha Al-Ajroush, who spoke to the NewsHour earlier this afternoon via Skype, said that she went driving in Riyadh and noticed several cars closely following her.

She said that although some women reported receiving calls telling them not to drive, many women drove anyway -- and vowed to continue to drive until the rule is changed.

Second man arrested for India girl rape, chaos in parliament

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  View PhotoReuters/Reuters - Police try to stop supporters of India's main opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) as they march towards the residence of the chief of India's ruling Congress party Sonia Gandhi during …more 

NEW DELHI (Reuters) - Indian police arrested a second man on Monday in connection with the rape and torture of a five-year-old girl in New Delhi and parliament was adjourned twice amid an uproar about the crime which has rekindled popular fury at widespread sexual violence.

The anger echoes the response to the gang rape of a 23-year-old trainee physiotherapist on a bus on December 16. She later died of her injuries. Protesters are angry authorities have failed to prevent more such crimes.
 

Police say the child was abducted on Monday last week and kept in captivity by two men in the basement of the building that she lived in with her family. Neighbors say they found her two days later after hearing her cries.


Media reported several other attacks on children over the weekend, including that of a nine-year old girl in the north-eastern state of Assam, who had her throat slit after being gang-raped, TV channels said.

A man was arrested at the weekend for the attack on the five-year-old and is due to appear in a Delhi court this week. The second suspect, in his early 20s, was arrested early on Monday at a relative's house in the eastern state of Bihar on information received from New Delhi, local police chief Rajeev Mishra said.

"He was arrested about 1 a.m.," Mishra said. "...Delhi police and local police made a combined effort to arrest him."

Brutal sex crimes are common in India, which has a population of 1.2 billion. New Delhi has the highest number of sex crimes among major cities, with a rape reported on average every 18 hours, according to police figures.

But most such crimes go unreported and justice is slow, according to social activists, who say successive governments have done little to ensure the safety of women and children.


The December 16 attack brought thousands on to the streets in protest and provoked national debate about the rising number of vicious attacks on women, putting the issue firmly on the 
national political agenda a year before elections.

Activists planned a fourth day of street action amid heavy security in Delhi after protesters tussled with police and tried to reach the homes of India's leaders at the weekend. The protesters are calling for Delhi's police chief to resign.

The five-year-old girl's name has not been revealed, but media have nicknamed her "Gudiya", or doll. She has undergone surgery and was in stable condition on Monday, a doctor at the hospital where she is being treated told reporters.

The lower house of parliament was adjourned twice after opposition politicians rushed into the building, some demanding discussion on the rape case. Others were protesting against corruption and other issues.

"Though parliament has recently passed tougher legislation to prevent rapes, the evil has not abated and such incidents are still on the rise throughout the country," House Speaker Meira Kumar said before the house was adjourned.

The upper house of parliament was due to hold a debate on violence against women in the afternoon.

(Reporting by Frank Jack Daniel and Annie Banerji; Additional reporting by Nita Bhalla; Editing by Nick Macfie)

Clinton blasts Egypt's 'shocking' treatment of women [AFP]

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  US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton accused Egyptian authorities of failing the …

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Monday denounced Egypt's treatment of women as "shocking" and a "disgrace" to the state after troops were shown ripping off a female protester's clothes.

In unusually strong remarks, Clinton accused Egyptian authorities of failing the country's women since the revolution that overthrew president Hosni Mubarak, both by excluding them from power and humiliating them in the streets.

"This systematic degradation of Egyptian women dishonors the revolution, disgraces the state and its uniform and is not worthy of a great people," Clinton said in a speech at Georgetown University.

In images widely seen over YouTube, helmeted troops were shown beating a veiled woman after having ripped her clothes off to reveal her bra and stomach.

Other pictures circulating on social media networks that have enraged protesters include one of a military policeman looming over a sobbing elderly woman with his truncheon.

"Recent events in Egypt have been particularly shocking. Women are being beaten and humiliated in the same streets where they risked their lives for the revolution only a few short months ago," Clinton said.

She denounced a "deeply troubling patter" of military authorities and the major political parties alike keeping Egyptian women out of the decision-making process.

"At the same time, they have been specifically targeted both by security forces and extremists," the top US diplomat added.

"Women protesters have been rounded up and subjected to horrific abuse. Journalists have been sexually assaulted and now women are being attacked, stripped and beaten in the streets."

Responding later to a question by a student, Clinton said that Egyptians and not Americans should be the first ones disturbed by the treatment of women.

Beating women on the street "is not cultural, it's criminal and it needs to be addressed and treated as such," she said to applause.

Clinton, who narrowly lost her bid to be the first female US president, has frequently been outspoken about women's rights during her tenure as the country's top diplomat.

She addressed events in Egypt as part of a broader speech in which she argued that peacemaking efforts around the world would benefit from greater involvement by women.