Saudi Arabian man reportedly divorces wife for driving
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In a country where women's rights are few, a Saudi Arabian man is reportedly filing for divorce from his wife because she showed him a video clip of her driving. Al Arabiya reports the wife wanted to surprise her husband by showing him she was learning how to drive, but that was apparently a mistake, as her husband got angry at her for going against social norms.
The husband told the judge that he didn't approve of his wife driving and requested that she live with her family until divorce papers were finalized. Social media users in the country were firmly planted into two camps: one side praised the husband for standing up for his traditional views, while the other lambasted him for tearing apart a family over something they believed to be harmless.
Saudi women have been pushing for the kingdom to lessen its ban on woman drivers. While there is no specific Saudi law that prohibits them from driving, women are not issued licenses.
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Jordan Valinsky is the lead writer for Speed Reads. Before joining The Week, he wrote for New York Observer's tech blog, Betabeat, and tracked the intersection between popular culture and the internet for The Daily Dot. He graduated with a degree in online journalism from Ohio University.
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