Driving ban lifted: I am my own guardian, say Saudi women on Twitter

Overjoyed Saudi women celebrated on Wednesday after King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud issued a historic decree allowing them to drive in the Kingdom.

The decree is slated to take effect from June 2018.
The announcement was reported late Tuesday by the state-run Saudi Press Agency and state TV. Praise for the move poured in from inside the Saudi kingdom as well as abroad.

Until now, only men were issues licences and women who drove in public risked being arrested and fined.

Manal al-Sharif, an organiser of the Women2Drive campaign who was earlier imprisoned for driving, said on Twitter that Saudi Arabia would "never be the same again", reports the BBC.

The hashtags "I am my own guardian" and "Saudi Women Can Drive" quickly gained traction on social media.

US President Donald Trump said it was a positive step towards promoting women's rights. US State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert called the move "a great step in the right direction".

UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres echoed that sentiment.

Saudi activist Loujain al-Hathloul, who was detained for 73 days in 2014 for flouting the ban, tweeted "thank God".
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How Islamic State is luring women with false sense of 'empowerment': Report

The dreaded Islamic State terror group is luring foreign women recruits with a false sense of "empowerment", according to a new report by a UK think tank.

The report compiled by the Royal United Services Institute for Defence and Security Studies (RUSI) said the reasons that drove hundreds of women to journey from Europe to ISIS territories were "complex".

"We talked to women who hadn't been radicalised but could understand why some of these girls might have gone to Syria and Iraq so they could live as 'good Muslims'," said Emily Winterbotham, the report's co-author.

She said the use of the term "jihadi bride" to describe all female ISIS members was not truly representative.

"ISIS has been successful at selling that image to women. It's not just about the naive vulnerable jihadi bride, it's women saying: 'This is in line with my religion, my political beliefs, the fact I want to live how I want'," Winterbotham told 'The Independent'.

Possible draws were found to include "a rejection of Western feminism, online contact with recruiters who offer marriage and adventure, peer or family influence, adherence to ISIS ideology, naivety and romantic optimism, and the chance to be part of something new, exciting and illicit", she said.
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