宗教领袖称沙特妇女不应该开车

AS IT IS 2016-04-15 Religious Leader Says Saudi Women Should Not Drive 宗教领袖称沙特妇女不应该开车

Saudi Arabia is the only country in the world that does not allow women to drive.

And it is likely to stay that way, if the country’s top religious cleric has his way. Mufti Sheikh Abdulaziz Al Sheikh argued that allowing women to drive is “a dangerous matter that exposes women to evil,” according to the Associated Press.   

What did he mean by that?

He said men with "weak spirits" who are "obsessed¹ with women" could cause female drivers harm and that family members would not know where the women were.

He spoke² on the religious channel, al-Majd.

The Saudi kingdom follows an ultraconservative version of Islam that includes many restrictions³ on women. While there is no actual law against women driving, the Saudi government does not permit women to get drivers’ licenses⁴.

Women’s rights activists⁵ have driven cars to protest the ban, posting images of themselves driving on social media. Some have been arrested. 

Women must rely on hired male drivers, or male relatives, to get them to work or to go shopping, or anywhere else they might need or want to go.

The Los Angeles Times reports that Saudi women are increasingly using the driver service Uber to get around.

They do so because the taxi system is described as “sometimes chaotic⁶,” says The Los Angeles Times. The mass transit⁷ system is poorly run and the cost of hiring a chauffeur⁸, a regular driver just for one person, is high.

The newspaper says a woman using public transportation alone, without a male, is “often seen as lacking morals.”

So the country is seeing a rise in smartphone-based ride services. In addition to Uber, Saudi women also use a company called Careem to get around.

In addition to not being able to drive or go out alone, women face other restrictions in Saudi Arabia under its form of Islam.

The Week website says they are not allowed to mix with men in public places. They cannot open a bank account without their husband’s agreement. They must cover up their bodies.

Most women must wear an abaya -- a long black robe that fits over their clothes and has a head scarf. Religious police on the streets go after women who show too much of their body or wear too much makeup⁹.

Many public buildings have separate entrances for men and women, according to The Daily Telegraph. This is because women can only spend limited time with men who are not family members. If there is unlawful mixing, the newspaper says, criminal charges can be filed against both parties. But usually the women get a stronger punishment.

Saudi women represented their country at the 2012 London Olympics for the first time. Conservative clerics called them prostitutes, says The Week.  Still, the women athletes had to have male guardians¹⁰ with them and cover their hair.

But progress is being made in at least one area.

For the first time, women could vote, and run for office, in local elections in 2015. It was the only the third time elections have been held in Saudi Arabia for either women or men.

And it was the first time women were elected as politicians in the Saudi Kingdom.

Words in This Story

cleric – n. a religious leader

ultraconservative –adj. person or organization that takes a very conservative opinion on something

chaotic – adj. complete confusion or disorder¹¹

prostitutes –n. women who get paid to have sex with people

1 obsessed   

adj.心神不宁的,鬼迷心窍的,沉迷的

参考例句：

• He's obsessed by computers. 他迷上了电脑。
• The fear of death obsessed him throughout his old life. 他晚年一直受着死亡恐惧的困扰。

2 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

3 restrictions   

约束( restriction的名词复数 )； 管制； 制约因素； 带限制性的条件（或规则）

参考例句：

• I found the restrictions irksome. 我对那些限制感到很烦。
• a snaggle of restrictions 杂乱无章的种种限制

4 licenses   

n.执照( license的名词复数 )v.批准，许可，颁发执照( license的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• Drivers have ten days' grace to renew their licenses. 驾驶员更换执照有10天的宽限期。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• Jewish firms couldn't get import or export licenses or raw materials. 犹太人的企业得不到进出口许可证或原料。 来自辞典例句

5 activists   

n.（政治活动的）积极分子，活动家( activist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• His research work was attacked by animal rights activists . 他的研究受到了动物权益维护者的抨击。
• Party activists with lower middle class pedigrees are numerous. 党的激进分子中有很多出身于中产阶级下层。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 chaotic   

adj.混沌的，一片混乱的，一团糟的

参考例句：

• Things have been getting chaotic in the office recently.最近办公室的情况越来越乱了。
• The traffic in the city was chaotic.这城市的交通糟透了。

7 transit   

n.经过，运输；vt.穿越，旋转；vi.越过

参考例句：

• His luggage was lost in transit.他的行李在运送中丢失。
• The canal can transit a total of 50 ships daily.这条运河每天能通过50条船。

8 chauffeur   

n.(受雇于私人或公司的)司机；v.为…开车

参考例句：

• The chauffeur handed the old lady from the car.这个司机搀扶这个老太太下汽车。
• She went out herself and spoke to the chauffeur.她亲自走出去跟汽车司机说话。

9 makeup   

n.组织；性格；化装品

参考例句：

• Those who failed the exam take a makeup exam.这次考试不及格的人必须参加补考。
• Do you think her beauty could makeup for her stupidity?你认为她的美丽能弥补她的愚蠢吗？

10 guardians   

监护人( guardian的名词复数 )； 保护者，维护者

参考例句：

• Farmers should be guardians of the countryside. 农民应是乡村的保卫者。
• The police are guardians of law and order. 警察是法律和秩序的护卫者。

11 disorder   

n.紊乱，混乱；骚动，骚乱；疾病，失调

参考例句：

• When returning back,he discovered the room to be in disorder.回家后，他发现屋子里乱七八糟。
• It contained a vast number of letters in great disorder.里面七零八落地装着许多信件。