Saudi Arabia’s law banning women to drive has been the focus of many discussions and campaigns, but the way this Saudi historian justified it has no precedent.
Saleh al-Saadoon said in a televised interview that Saudi Arabia has been protecting its women from being raped by not allowing them to drive.
He said that women can be raped when a car breaks down, adding that “women who drive in other countries such as the United States don't care if they're raped and that sexual violence is no big deal to them."
"They don't care if they are raped on the roadside, but we do," al-Saadoon said on Saudi Rotana Khalijiyya TV.
The TV show’s host could not but express her shock towards his comments.
“Hold on. Who told you they don’t care about getting raped on the roadside?” she asked.
“It’s no big deal for them beyond the damage to their morale,” al-Saadoon replied. “In our case, however, the problem is of a social and religious nature.”
He continued by saying that women are treated "like queens" in Saudi Arabia because they are driven around by the men of the family and male chauffeurs.
The host, whose name was not mentioned, rushed to ask if he was not afraid that women might be raped by their chauffeurs.
"There is a solution, but the government officials and the clerics refuse to hear of it," he replied. "The solution is to bring in female foreign chauffeurs to drive our wives."
That caused the female host to laugh and cover her face with her palm.
Major facepalm moment if you ask us. Who's to protect the female chauffeurs and their passengers should the car break down? Are foreign drivers of a lesser worth so as to be OK with being raped?
What of Kuwaiti, Qatari and other women from the Gulf region who are allowed to drive? Are they OK with being raped?
This guy has seriously flawed logic to say the least and until such men, or women -who continue to regurgitate this rhetoric- are subjected to the atrocities they deem "suiting" to other races, cultures etc, but not their own, I don't see how the Middle East will ever move past the Middle Ages.
I'm just glad the presenter didn't take him seriously and press on with further questions, because I'm sure this is what he would have derived to by the end of the segment.