The empowerment of women is aimed at putting things back on the right track. It means enabling women to lead a life without coercion or rejection by men of a woman’s role in society. When this is accomplished, society will live in complete harmony with itself and the world around it.

Those people who reject such empowerment have problems with themselves and others. There is not a single justification against the right of women to drive except inherited obsolete traditions and chauvinism. Those who reject the empowerment of women are refusing to recognize a woman’s innate rights.

The father, brother and uncle who had custody of women should have backed their empowerment. The opponents of empowerment were either influenced by masculine misconceptions or were protecting their own interests. They were adamant in their attitude to deprive women of their God-given rights.

These people should have realized that preventing women from driving caused numerous tragedies and as well as economic, social and cultural ills.

The opponents of women’s empowerment deliberately shut their eyes to the harms involved in preventing women from driving.

Women and their children were sometimes subjected to harassment by foreign drivers, and reckless drivers caused the death of some women schoolteachers while driving them to school. However, these negative aspects did not open the eyes of people who objected to women driving.

We were, then, the only country in the world that deprived women of their right to drive. Opponents of women driving caused a lot of damage and harmed the image and reputation of the Kingdom, but they have never apologized for their opposition to women driving which in many cases was merely a way to preserve their own personal interests.

The empowerment of women will have a great impact on the economy, families, culture, education and various other vital national sectors. It will undoubtedly improve the lives of both men and women.

Educated mothers who are not being coerced or manipulated will be more capable of benefiting society than coerced women who are in effect living in a big prison.

The empowerment of women will help eliminate injustice against women that they suffer due to physical, psychological, moral and financial aggression. It will further boost development, education, health and culture.

A strong woman is a symbol of a robust and healthy society that is capable of future progress and sustainable development.

The empowerment of women is the empowerment of society and the country at large. It will help the Kingdom maintain its pioneering role as the leader of the Muslim world.

It is a victory for the nation and for all of those who love peace.

-The author is a Saudi legal adviser and writer.