Female drivers could damage their ovaries and pelvises says Saudi sheikh
Published: 2013 September 29 08:36:13 (4510 Views)
A Saudi sheikh has warned women that driving could affect their ovaries and pelvises.
Women are currently banned from driving in Saudi Arabia and many have protested against the statute.
However, Sheikh Salah al-Luhaydan has warned them that their health could be at risk if they get behind the wheel.
He told Saudi news website sabq.org: '[Driving] could have a reverse physiological impact.
'Physiological science and functional medicine studied this side [and found] that it automatically affects ovaries and rolls up the pelvis.
'This is why we find for women who continuously drive cars their children are born with clinical disorders of varying degrees.'
The comments come two years after a 'scientific' report claimed that relaxing the ban would also see more Saudis - both men and women - turn to homosexuality and to watching adult films.
The startling conclusions were drawn in 2011 at the Majlis al-Ifta' al-A'ala, Saudi Arabia's highest religious council, working in conjunction with Kamal Subhi, a former professor at the King Fahd University.
Their report assessed the possible impact of repealing the ban in Saudi Arabia, the only country in the world where women are not allowed behind the wheel.
It was delivered to all 150 members of the Shura Council, the country's legislative body.
The report warned that allowing women to drive would 'provoke a surge in prostitution, adult films, homosexuality and divorce'.
Within ten years of the ban being lifted, the report's authors claimed, there would be 'no more v*rgins' in the Islamic kingdom.
And it pointed out 'moral decline' could already be seen in other Muslim countries where women are allowed to drive.
In the report Professor Subhi described sitting in a coffee shop in an unnamed Arab state.
'All the women were looking at me,' he wrote. 'One made a gesture that made it clear she was available... this is what happens when women are allowed to drive.'
Women in Saudi Arabia have not been permitted to drive since the establishment of the state in 1932.
Hundreds of women have protested against the law - with several facing punishment after the got behind the wheel.
Gender roles in Saudi society come from Sharia - Islamic law - and tribal culture.
The law is followed strictly throughout the country, but many issues regarding gender equality revolve around culture, not religion.
In 2009 the World Economic Forum Global Gender Gap Report ranked Saudi Arabia 130th out of 134 countries for gender parity.
Under Saudi law, all females must have a male guardian, typically a father, brother or husband who has rights over many aspects of the woman's life.
Women were previously forbidden from voting or being elected to political office, but women will be able to vote and run in the 2015 local elections, as well as be appointed to the Consultative Assembly.
Saudi Arabia is the only country in the world that prohibits women from driving.
Shaima Jastaniya, 34, was sentenced to 10 lashes with a whip after being caught driving in Jeddah in 2011.
Another woman was stopped by a police patrol after driving six miles to collect her husband near their home in the town of Buraida.
As her 'legal guardian' her husband had to sign a declaration that he would not let his wife drive again.
One woman took to the roads for four days non-stop in an act of frustrated defiance.
Housewife and mother Najla al-Hariri drove around the streets of the Red Sea city of Jeddah back in 2011 'to defend her belief that Saudi women should be allowed to drive.'
She said: 'I don't fear being arrested because I am setting an example that my daughter and her friends are proud of.'
She added that it was ridiculous she is not allowed to drive in her own country, despite the fact that she is an experienced driver, having driven for five years in Egypt and another five years in Lebanon.
At the time the mother was also offering driving lessons to women.
However, the protests sometimes end in tragedy.
A young woman driver and three of her passengers were killed after she defied the kingdom's ban on women motorists.
The woman, who was in her 20s, had been driving a 4X4 with nine girlfriends on Saturday night in the capital, Riyadh, in an open area often used by young men in car races.
Four of the women were killed when the vehicle overturned. The remaining six were injured and taken to a nearby hospital.
- DM
Women are currently banned from driving in Saudi Arabia and many have protested against the statute.
However, Sheikh Salah al-Luhaydan has warned them that their health could be at risk if they get behind the wheel.
He told Saudi news website sabq.org: '[Driving] could have a reverse physiological impact.
'Physiological science and functional medicine studied this side [and found] that it automatically affects ovaries and rolls up the pelvis.
'This is why we find for women who continuously drive cars their children are born with clinical disorders of varying degrees.'
The comments come two years after a 'scientific' report claimed that relaxing the ban would also see more Saudis - both men and women - turn to homosexuality and to watching adult films.
The startling conclusions were drawn in 2011 at the Majlis al-Ifta' al-A'ala, Saudi Arabia's highest religious council, working in conjunction with Kamal Subhi, a former professor at the King Fahd University.
Their report assessed the possible impact of repealing the ban in Saudi Arabia, the only country in the world where women are not allowed behind the wheel.
It was delivered to all 150 members of the Shura Council, the country's legislative body.
The report warned that allowing women to drive would 'provoke a surge in prostitution, adult films, homosexuality and divorce'.
Within ten years of the ban being lifted, the report's authors claimed, there would be 'no more v*rgins' in the Islamic kingdom.
And it pointed out 'moral decline' could already be seen in other Muslim countries where women are allowed to drive.
In the report Professor Subhi described sitting in a coffee shop in an unnamed Arab state.
'All the women were looking at me,' he wrote. 'One made a gesture that made it clear she was available... this is what happens when women are allowed to drive.'
Women in Saudi Arabia have not been permitted to drive since the establishment of the state in 1932.
Hundreds of women have protested against the law - with several facing punishment after the got behind the wheel.
Gender roles in Saudi society come from Sharia - Islamic law - and tribal culture.
The law is followed strictly throughout the country, but many issues regarding gender equality revolve around culture, not religion.
In 2009 the World Economic Forum Global Gender Gap Report ranked Saudi Arabia 130th out of 134 countries for gender parity.
Under Saudi law, all females must have a male guardian, typically a father, brother or husband who has rights over many aspects of the woman's life.
Women were previously forbidden from voting or being elected to political office, but women will be able to vote and run in the 2015 local elections, as well as be appointed to the Consultative Assembly.
Saudi Arabia is the only country in the world that prohibits women from driving.
Shaima Jastaniya, 34, was sentenced to 10 lashes with a whip after being caught driving in Jeddah in 2011.
Another woman was stopped by a police patrol after driving six miles to collect her husband near their home in the town of Buraida.
As her 'legal guardian' her husband had to sign a declaration that he would not let his wife drive again.
One woman took to the roads for four days non-stop in an act of frustrated defiance.
Housewife and mother Najla al-Hariri drove around the streets of the Red Sea city of Jeddah back in 2011 'to defend her belief that Saudi women should be allowed to drive.'
She said: 'I don't fear being arrested because I am setting an example that my daughter and her friends are proud of.'
She added that it was ridiculous she is not allowed to drive in her own country, despite the fact that she is an experienced driver, having driven for five years in Egypt and another five years in Lebanon.
At the time the mother was also offering driving lessons to women.
However, the protests sometimes end in tragedy.
A young woman driver and three of her passengers were killed after she defied the kingdom's ban on women motorists.
The woman, who was in her 20s, had been driving a 4X4 with nine girlfriends on Saturday night in the capital, Riyadh, in an open area often used by young men in car races.
Four of the women were killed when the vehicle overturned. The remaining six were injured and taken to a nearby hospital.
- DM
0
You May Like These Videos
WATCH: Victims Narrate Ordeal After Being Clobbered By Riot Cops
FLASHBACK: Morgan Tsvangirai Won't Resign Despite Illness 
Police Violently Beat Harare Protesters 
Zimbabwean Man Who Was Shot By Tswana Employer Appeals For HelpComments
There are no comments.
Get Zim Metro Updates Alerts
Big Reads
Schoolgirl drops out after continuous 'sexual abuse' by teacher
by Staff Reporter | 2019 August 13 07:42:33
Mugabe Knows Nothing About The Zimbabwe Constitution: MP
by Staff Reporter | 2016 October 01 08:12:02
Zim's Protesting Graduates Risk Losing Degrees For Expressing Anger Against Mugabe
by Staff Reporter | 2016 October 01 07:57:08
Troubled Harare Giants Dynamos Falls Into Another Deep Crisis
by Own Correspondent | 2016 October 01 07:49:17
Grace Mugabe Grovels At Mnangagwa, Says I Did Not Ask Ubaba To Fire You
by Staff Reporter | 2016 October 01 07:31:48
Mugabe Attacks Mawarire, Claims The Exiled Pastor Failed To Divide Zimbabwe
by Staff Reporter | 2016 October 01 07:19:13
Shock As Local Bank Denies 'Rich' Mugabe's Son Heifty Credit
by Own Correspondent | 2016 September 30 19:14:54Trouble For Police Officers Who Have Been Mercilessly Bludgeoning Protesters
by Staff Reporter | 2016 October 01 07:20:19
Mugabe "Home Coming" And "Thank You" Rally On Cards
by Own Correspondent | 2016 September 23 06:48:24
Prof Moyo Was Dumped By Western Embassies, Claims Mutsvangwa
by Staff Reporter | 2016 September 22 10:08:07Broke RBZ Tracks Down Zimbabweans Living Outside The Country Over Taxi
by Staff Reporter | 2016 September 22 09:16:20
You Are Too Old To Lead, Aging Zim President Mugabe Told
by Own Correspondent | 2016 September 22 07:19:25
Anti-Corruption Commission Loses Property In Failed Probe
by Own Correspondent | 2016 September 20 03:18:19
.jpg)
SHOCKING:14 Year Old HIV-Positive Boy Rapes 7 Pupils
by Own Correspondent | 2016 September 20 00:04:55
