Riyadh lifting the women's driving ban: 'Carwashing' royal Saudi abuse?
While the lifting of the women's driving ban in Saudi Arabia should be celebrated, commentators have contextualised the move as a cynical marketing ploy by an image-conscious regime. As the only country in the world which banned women from driving, and one of the handful that carries out public executions, not to mention facing accusations of a multitude of human rights abuses, it's not hard to see Saudi Arabia suffers from an image problem. Headlines have included a cleric being suspended for saying women had a quarter of a brain, and an imam suggesting women "expired" as a reason for encouraging polygamous marriages. Amnesty International condemned a crackdown on dissent after authorities detained more than 30 religious figures, writers, journalists, academics and activists. And on the same day the driving ban was lifted, Saudi Arabia threatened economic retaliation against countries backing a UN inquiry into alleged war violations in Yemen. While the v
