Small number of women turn out for Saudi driving protest

A small number of women turned out in June to take part in the ‘women2drive’ campaign. While certainly not a mass movement – there are estimates of 30 to 40 participants across the country – observers were pleased that women who chose to drive were not bothered by police, in comparison to last month’s arrest of Manal Al-Sharif, which made global headlines (GSN 901/4). Some media reports said police had been under orders not to intervene.