Lesly Saravia

Legal Environment of Business

September 1st, 2015
1st Period

Civil Disobedience
Civil disobedience is the refusal to comply with certain laws or to pay taxes and fines, as a
peaceful form of political protest.

One has a moral responsibility to disobey unjust laws - Martin Luther

King Jr.
It was civil disobedience that won them their rights. - Tariq Ali
I honestly do not know if civil disobedience has any effect on the government.
I can promise you it has a great effect on the person who chooses to do it. Martin Sheen

I honestly do not know if civil disobedience has any effect on the government. I can
promise you it has a great effect on the person who chooses to do it. - Martin Sheen. This
is a quote that I feel best represents current issues. I say this because some acts of civil
disobedience are life changing for people and/or groups. When Martin Luther King Jr. won
African-Americans their civil rights, it changed many lives in the United States. It had a great
impact on these individuals because they finally had civil rights. This also caused change in the
government which was also good. There are many more civil disobediences that had a huge
effect on people all over the world. For example, Mahatma Ghandi was an individual who
created such a recognized civil disobedience act. And there are still many more of these peaceful
refusals happening in the 21st century. In Saudi Arabia, women were banned from driving
because of religion but after some acts of civil disobedience, they have gotten successful and
they are still doing peaceful refusals. Some of these examples arent current issues but they are
life changing.

Saudi Arabia women defy authorities over

female driving ban
By Mohammed Jamjoom and Laura Smith-Spark, CNN
Updated 7:51 PM ET, Sat October 26, 2013
In an extraordinary display of civil disobedience, women in Saudi Arabia on Saturday defied
their nation's de facto ban on women driving by getting behind the steering wheel.
After a campaign for change gathered pace on social media, numerous women filmed
themselves behind the wheel Saturday in various cities and uploaded those videos to YouTube.
Several Saudi supporters of the October 26th Women's Driving Campaign told CNN that at least
25 women drove Saturday.
Authorities stopped five women who were spotted driving in the Saudi capital and "each case
was dealt with accordingly," Col. Fawaz Al-Meeman of Riyadh police told CNN.
Al-Meeman, an assistant spokesman for that city's police department, explained that the women
weren't taken to police stations. Instead, they were kept in their vehicles until their male
guardians arrived, at which point the women were released after signing pledges not to drive
again.

Driving campaign supporter Mai Al-Swayan, an economic researcher, said she was one of the
women who drove Saturday. She posted a video on YouTube showing her driving.
She said she drove from home to a grocery store in Riyadh, and then back with her groceries. "I
drove on the highway and was noticed by a couple of cars but they were fine with it," she said.
Opinion: Give Saudi women right to drive
"I'm very proud. I feel like we accomplished the purpose of our campaign."
Al-Swayan, who has taken the wheel before in defiance of the ban, said she was worried about
what might happen before she drove Saturday but now plans to keep doing it.
She said she believed more women would drive in the days to come.
Photographer: Taken to police station
While Riyadh police said no one was taken to police stations, that wasn't the case in Jeddah,
said photographer Samia El-Moslimany.
She said she was detained in the evening for having driven and taken to a police station, where
there was another woman who had been stopped for driving. El-Moslimany said she was later
released.
"I thought I was going to take an uneventful drive around the neighborhood to solidify my
reasoning that it's not against the law, simply against the current customs of our country," ElMoslimany told CNN.
Men she believes to be police informants spotted and followed her, she said. She pulled over
and called her driver to take her back home, but police appeared and she had to go to the
station.

"We were treated with respect and treated so professionally," El-Moslimany said. "We described
how we were not part of any demonstration, that we ... felt it was our right. They spoke to us
very kindly and said we'd have to sign a pledge not to drive again."
Police told the women they needed their guardians to come to the station before they could be
released, she said.
Jeddah police could not be immediately reached for comment.
Interior Ministry: Laws will be enforced
Asked if any women were observed or stopped from driving, or if there was an increased police
presence on the streets of major cities, Saudi Arabia's Interior Ministry spokesman Mansour AlTurki said it was a "normal day, just like every Saturday."
He added, "I am not aware of any violation. Usually regional police spokesmen would speak to
media about any, if any violation takes place."
Saudi Arabia's Interior Ministry issued a warning earlier in the week to women caught driving
and anyone taking part in demonstrations.
Without outlining how laws would be applied and what punishment might be doled out to
offenders, Al-Turki said then, "All violations will be dealt with -- whether demonstrations or
women driving."
He added, "Not just on the 26th. Before and after. At all times."
No traffic law specifically prohibits women from driving in Saudi Arabia, but religious edicts there
are often interpreted to mean women are not allowed to operate a vehicle.
It's not clear what action might be taken against women who defy the de facto ban.

Several Saudi women supporting the campaign said they received threatening calls Thursday
from men claiming to represent the Interior Ministry, according to women's rights activists who
requested anonymity. The callers warned the women not to drive before, on or after Saturday,
the activists said.
Initially, Al-Turki denied any calls were made. He later contacted CNN to clarify his comments,
saying the phone calls were a public relations move by the ministry to help people understand
that laws would be "fully enforced" Saturday.
'Shameful' to detain women for driving
Adam Coogle, a Saudi Arabia researcher for Human Rights Watch, told CNN via e-mail that the
Saudi Interior Ministry was trying to "deflate the momentum" behind the campaign through
"direct, individual intimidation."
He called on Saudi Arabia to end discrimination and allow women to go about their business.
"It is shameful that a woman could be detained for activity that isn't illegal," he said. "The Interior
Ministry claims it is against 'activities that disturb public peace,' but pulling over and arresting
activists merely for practicing their rights is a far greater threat to public peace than merely
getting behind the wheel."
One of those spearheading the driving campaign is activist Manal Al-Sharif, who was jailed for
more than a week in 2011 after posting a video of herself driving.
Al-Sharif, who now lives in the United Arab Emirates, said it is a positive sign that the
government stated its position on women driving.
"They kept telling the world that the women's driving issue was one for Saudi society to decide
upon," she said. "Society is now showing it is supportive of the idea of women driving. The

government's reaction makes it very clear this is not a societal decision. This is a political
decision."
Saturday's protest was the culmination of an online movement launched in late September
urging Saudi women to get behind the wheel.
The campaign quickly gained momentum, with its online petition garnering more than 16,000
signatures despite the kingdom's restrictions on protests.
The online initiative was boosted by the fact that residents of Saudi Arabia are highly active on
social media and YouTube.
Rights group Amnesty International on Thursday urged Saudi Arabia to allow women to drive
and not punish those campaigning for change.
The group said at least 35 women drove on Saudi streets Saturday, filming and uploading their
videos on to YouTube.
http://www.cnn.com/2013/10/26/world/meast/saudi-arabia-women-drivers/

a.) Women in Saudi Arabia were showing civil disobedience by defying their nations ban on
women driving.
b.) Women in Saudi Arabia are not allowed to drive because of their religion but there is no
specific law saying that women driving is illegal, according to CNN.
c.) More than 35 women in Saudi Arabia took videos of themselves driving and they uploaded
those videos on YouTube.

d.) All of the women that posted videos of themselves driving were taken to the Police
Department and were released until they signed a pledge saying that they will not drive again.
Because of this and the YouTube videos posted, they were acknowledged by many people across
the globe.
e.) Their civil disobedience was a bit successful. Women in Saudi Arabia can only drive if they
are over the age of 30 and they cannot wear makeup whatsoever.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/11/08/saudi-arabia-women-driving-ban_n_6125888.html

Summary:
In Saudi Arabia, women were not allowed to drive due to their religion. Because of this, women
started taking videos of themselves driving and were uploading those videos on YouTube. They
posed no harm and everyone on the road saw them and had no problem with these women being
on the road. But sadly, all those women who posted videos of themselves were sent to the police
department and could not leave until they signed a pledge saying that they will not drive again.
After this, many women continued to drive and they have gotten successful. Women could only
drive under the restrictions that they must be above the age of 30, they can not wear makeup,
they must cover themselves, and they must have curfews. But women have not stopped trying to
make more changes to this. They believe that since there is no specific law saying that women
cannot drive, they should be allowed to drive disregarding their religion.

My Opinion:

In my opinion, I feel that the women in Saudi Arabia did the correct thing to protesting the
situation. Women in Saudi Arabia were showing civil disobedience on their nations ban on
women driving by peacefully uploading videos of themselves driving on YouTube. There was no
harm done while these women were driving and they were still arrested. This is very unfair
because women should have the same rights as men in Saudi Arabia and everywhere else on the
globe. Im glad and proud that these women decided to speak up even if it meant getting into
trouble.

Lesly Saravia September 1, 2015 Saudi Arabia Women Defy Authorities Over Female Driving
Ban, Sat October 26, 2013 http://www.cnn.com/2013/10/26/world/meast/saudi-arabia-womendrivers/index.html