Manal al-Sharif facts for kids

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Quick facts for kids Manal al-Sharif
منال الشريف
Al-Sharif in 2011
Born	(1979-04-25) 25 April 1979 (age 46) Mecca, Saudi Arabia
Occupation	Computer Scientist, Saudi Aramco
Known for	Defying female driving ban in Saudi Arabia
Spouse(s)	First husband (divorced) Rafael (m. 2012)
Children	2

Manal al-Sharif (Arabic: منال الشريف, romanized: Manāl Aš-Šarīf; born on April 25, 1979) is a Saudi Arabian activist. She works to support women's rights in her country. In 2011, she helped start a campaign to allow women to drive cars.

As part of this campaign, Wajeha al-Huwaider filmed Manal al-Sharif driving. The video was shared widely on YouTube and Facebook. Manal al-Sharif was arrested on May 21, 2011. She was released, but then arrested again the next day. On May 30, she was set free on bail. She agreed to certain rules: she would return for questions if needed, not drive, and not talk to the media. News groups like The New York Times said her campaign was part of the Arab Spring movement. They also said her long detention showed that Saudi leaders worried about protests.

After her driving campaign, Manal al-Sharif continued to speak out. She used Twitter to discuss issues like women workers in prison. She also talked about the lack of elections for the Shura Council. Her efforts have been recognized by important magazines like Foreign Policy and Time. She also received an award from the Oslo Freedom Forum.

About Manal al-Sharif
Working for Women's Rights
Life Since 2012
Personal Life
Recognition
See also

About Manal al-Sharif

Manal al-Sharif studied at King Abdulaziz University. She earned a degree in computing. She also received a special certificate from Cisco for computer networking. Until May 2012, she worked as a computer security expert. She worked for Saudi Aramco, which is Saudi Arabia's national oil company.

She also wrote articles for Alhayat, a daily newspaper in Saudi Arabia. Manal al-Sharif wrote a book called Daring to Drive: a Saudi Woman's Awakening. It was published in June 2017. You can also find her book in German, Arabic, Turkish, and Danish.

Working for Women's Rights

Manal al-Sharif has worked for women's rights in Saudi Arabia for many years. The New York Times said she is known for highlighting the lack of rights for women. Amnesty International praised her 2011 driving campaign. They said she was like other women activists worldwide. These activists bravely challenge unfair laws and rules.

Women's Driving Rights in Saudi Arabia

In Saudi Arabia, women had limited freedom to move around. They were not allowed to drive cars on public roads. In 1990, many women in Riyadh drove their cars to protest this rule. They were put in prison for one day. Their passports were taken away, and some lost their jobs.

In September 2007, a group called the Association for the Protection and Defense of Women's Rights in Saudi Arabia gave a petition to King Abdullah. This group was started by Wajeha al-Huwaider and Fawzia al-Uyyouni. The petition had 1,100 signatures. It asked for women to be allowed to drive. On International Women's Day in 2008, Wajeha al-Huwaider filmed herself driving. This video got a lot of attention around the world after it was posted on YouTube.

The Arab Spring was a series of protests across the Middle East. It inspired a woman from Jeddah, Najla Hariri, to start driving in May 2011. She said, "Before in Saudi, you never heard about protests. But after what has happened in the Middle East, we started to accept people speaking up. This has had an impact on me."

The 2011 Women Driving Campaign

A political cartoon by Carlos Latuff about the Saudi women movement to lift the ban on their right to drive titled "New Saudi Arabia's traffic sign"

In 2011, Manal al-Sharif and other women started a Facebook campaign. It was called "Teach me how to drive so I can protect myself" or "Women2Drive." The campaign asked for women to start driving on June 17, 2011. By May 21, 2011, about 12,000 people supported the Facebook page. Manal al-Sharif said this action was about women's rights, not a protest. Wajeha al-Huwaider was impressed and decided to help.

In late May, Manal al-Sharif drove her car in Khobar. Wajeha al-Huwaider filmed her. The video was put on YouTube and Facebook. In the video, Manal al-Sharif said, "This is a volunteer campaign to help the girls of this country [learn to drive]. At least for times of emergency, God forbid. What if whoever is driving them gets a heart attack?"

The religious police (CPVPV) arrested her on May 21. She was released after six hours. By May 23, 2011, about 600,000 people had watched the video. The original YouTube video of her driving later became unavailable. The Facebook page for the campaign was deleted. Also, the Twitter account Manal al-Sharif used was changed. But supporters republished the video and Facebook page. A summary of Manal al-Sharif's rules for the June 17 campaign was shared online.

On May 22, Manal al-Sharif was arrested again. News reporters asked traffic officials about rules for women driving. The officials said reporters should ask members of the Consultative Assembly of Saudi Arabia. Some news outlets said Manal al-Sharif was sentenced to five days in prison.

The New York Times called Manal al-Sharif's campaign a "growing protest movement." They said the Saudi government tried to stop it quickly. Associated Press said Saudi authorities were tougher on Manal al-Sharif. This was because her case became a call for change among young people. Both news groups believed her long detention was due to the government's fear of wider protests. Amnesty International said Manal al-Sharif was a prisoner of conscience. They asked for her to be released right away.

The day after Manal al-Sharif's arrest, another woman was arrested for driving. She was driving with two women passengers in Ar Rass. Traffic police and religious police arrested her. She was released after promising not to drive again. After Manal al-Sharif's arrest, more Saudi women posted videos of themselves driving. On May 26, officials said Manal al-Sharif would stay in detention until June 5, 2011.

Manal al-Sharif was set free on May 30, with conditions. Her lawyer said she was charged with "encouraging women to drive" and "gathering public opinion." Her release conditions included bail, returning for questions, not driving, and not talking to the media. The National newspaper suggested reasons for her early release. These included a letter she wrote to King Abdullah. Also, 4,500 Saudis signed an online petition to the King. There was also a lot of anger from Saudis and others that she was jailed for something not considered a crime.

On November 15, 2011, Manal al-Sharif protested to the traffic department in Riyadh. They had rejected her application for a driver's license. Samar Badawi filed a similar lawsuit on February 4, 2012.

Campaign for Women Prisoners

After being released from prison on May 30, Manal al-Sharif started a Twitter campaign called "Faraj." This campaign aimed to help release Saudi, Filipino, and Indonesian women prisoners. These women were in the Dammam women's prison. They were held because they owed small amounts of money and could not pay their debts.

Manal al-Sharif said most of these women were domestic workers. They stayed in prison even after their sentences ended. This was because they could not pay their debts. Also, their former Saudi employers did not help them get released or pay for their flights home. She mentioned 22 Indonesian women and named four who needed help. She also stated how much money they owed. She asked people to donate directly to the prison director. This money would pay the women's debts and free them.

Life Since 2012

In May 2012, Manal al-Sharif received the Václav Havel Prize for Creative Dissent. Her employer, Saudi Aramco, tried to stop her from traveling to accept the award. Her boss threatened to fire her. He said, "If you are going to talk at another conference, you could lose your job. You are not allowed to go. We don't want our name to be associated with you."

Manal al-Sharif traveled to receive her prize anyway. She was then fired from her job. She also had to leave the company apartment where she lived.

In December 2012, Manal al-Sharif criticized a Saudi government rule. This rule sent text messages to husbands when their wives or family members left the country. This is part of a law that makes men the legal guardians of their wives. She wrote on Twitter, "The small fact of the SMS story gives you the idea of the bigger problem with the whole guardianship system."

In January 2013, King Abdullah appointed women to the advisory Shura Council for the first time. Manal al-Sharif said this change was too small. She noted that the council was not elected and could not pass laws.

In January 2019, Manal al-Sharif closed her Twitter account. She said that Twitter had "once saved [her] life." She explained that online social networks allowed Saudis to have open discussions for years, especially around 2011. However, she felt Saudi authorities found ways to control Twitter. She believed this made it too strict for her to continue using it.

Manal al-Sharif said that Saudi authorities "shaped the Twitter conversation." They did this by buying fake accounts and threatening or arresting people who spoke against the government. She mentioned a New York Times report about a Saudi spy inside Twitter. This spy helped authorities find and arrest well-known Saudi Twitter users who had been anonymous. Manal al-Sharif asked software developers to create better social media platforms. She wanted platforms that would reward real content and not allow powerful people to control conversations.

In April 2019, the Saudi embassy in Washington invited Manal al-Sharif to meet the new ambassador, Reema bint Bandar.

Personal Life

Manal al-Sharif has two sons. Her first son lives in Saudi Arabia with his grandmother. Her second son lives in Australia with Manal al-Sharif. As of June 2017, the two sons had only met through video calls.

She first married in Saudi Arabia and had a son in 2005. The marriage ended in divorce. Based on Saudi divorce rules, her ex-husband kept full legal custody of their child. Manal al-Sharif moved to Dubai after the divorce. She had to travel back to Saudi Arabia to see her son. This was because her ex-husband would not let him travel. Manal al-Sharif went to court to challenge this travel restriction. But the court refused. It referred to an old Islamic text about the "risk of the child dying en route on such a dangerous distance."

On January 23, 2012, news mistakenly reported that Manal al-Sharif had died in a car crash. On January 25, The Guardian confirmed she was alive. The crash victim was someone else not involved in the driving campaign.

Manal al-Sharif had another son in 2014 from her second marriage.

She speaks English very well. She has lived in New Hampshire, USA, and Australia. She considers herself a liberal Muslim. She follows most Islamic practices, like eating Halal food and praying five to six times a day. When she married her Brazilian husband, she asked him to convert to Islam. This was in line with Islamic law for their marriage. He formally converted to Islam at a mosque in Brazil and took a Muslim name.

Recognition

Foreign Policy magazine named Manal al-Sharif one of the Top 100 Global Thinkers of 2011. She was also on Forbes list of Women Who (Briefly) Rocked in the same year. In 2012, The Daily Beast named her one of the Fearless Women of the year. Time magazine also named her one of the 100 Most Influential People of 2012. She was one of three people to receive the first Václav Havel Prize for Creative Dissent at the Oslo Freedom Forum.