London

Manal AlSharif

Manal AlSharif is a wowen who fought for her believes. That’s how I want to start this. Why? Because no matter what the story is about, that is what it is important.

Now I’m going to explain this story. Manal is a Saudi Arabian women, and women in this country can’t drive, but not because it’s illegal, but because it’s against social norms. So, when Manal was arrested for posting a youtube video where she was driving, she have done nothing wrong, it was just not accepted in her country.

Saudi Arabia is the only country where driving is prohibited for women. Manal spend 7 days in prison with no reason at all, just because “women are not supposed to drive”. After she was released, she started a movement to express her rights to Saudi Arabian government. With internet and social media, she became an activist for women rights.

In her own country, most of the people thought that she was wrong, and that she was a traitor. But according to the rest of the world, at least the parts of the world where women are not as oppressed as in Saudi Arabia, thought that she was brave and kind of a hero for all of us.

After several discussions and even death threats to her person, Manal achieved something that was almost impossible to think. She pushed the government to a point where women can drive, and it’s not illegal for them to do it.

I started saying that her believes where important, because in this case she was fighting for the right to drive, but no matter what the reason was, her believes, her strength and values, led her to achieved that historical change in Saudi Arabia. So, this history teach us, that nothing is more important than your right to express yourself and fight against the injustice. Manal won this time, but daily there are thousands of cases where people are not listened, and one step at a time, changes can be made.