Up to June 24, 2018, Saudi Arabia had remained the world's only country legally barring female motorists since the late 1970s. In September 2017, King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud issued a royal decree ordering the lifting of the ban, which is a part of wide-ranging changes being implemented to modernize the kingdom. A significant role in the reform process is attributed to Mohammed bin Salman, who was appointed crown prince in June 2017. Within the framework of the reforms women are now allowed to attend public entertainment events and serve in the armed forces.
Saudi women marked the date by taking to the roads en masse last night and took to Twitter to express their pride and endorse the move.
Hala Hussein Alireza, a newly licensed Saudi motorist, drives a car on the main road in the Red Sea coastal city of Jeddah early on June 24, 2018, after a ban on women driving was officially lifted.
A Bahraini woman, Eman Mohammed, takes a selfie with her phone as she celebrates with Saudi and Bahraini women the lifting of the driving ban on women, in east Saudi Arabia on June 24, 2018.
Zuhoor Assiri gestures as she drives her car in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia, on June 24, 2018.
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© AP Photo / Nariman El-Mofty
Thirty-four-year-old Asmaa al-Assdmi poses for a photograph holding her new car license at the Saudi Driving School inside Princess Nora University in Saudi Arabia.
A Saudi Arabian woman, Samira Al-Ghamdi, is seen in her car receiving food from a fast food restaurant in the coastal city of Jeddah for the first time after the ban on women driving was officially lifted.
Saudi women attend a go-kart test drive during a driving workshop for women in the Saudi capital Riyadh on June 21, 2018.
Saudi women celebrate after driving their cars in Al Khobar, Saudi Arabia, on June 24, 2018, after the ban on women driving was officially lifted.
A Saudi woman and her friends celebrate her first time driving on the main street of Khobar on her way to the Kingdom of Bahrain on June 24, 2018.
Hannan Iskandar prepares to drive her car through her neighborhood, in Al Khobar, Saudi Arabia, on June 23, 2018.
A Saudi woman prepares to use a go-kart during a driving workshop for women in the Saudi capital, Riyadh, on June 21, 2018.
A Bahraini woman, Nouf Al Maloud, hugs a Saudi Arabian lady, Zahoor Assiri, as they arrive in east Saudi in their cars to promote and congratulate Saudi women on the lifting of the driving ban in Saudi Arabia on June 24, 2018.
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© AP Photo / Nariman El-Mofty
Hessah al-Ajaji drivers her car down the capital's busy Tahlia Street after midnight for the first time in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on Sunday, June 24, 2018.
