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How Uber Is Changing Life For Women In Saudi Arabia
An anonymous reader writes: Being unable to legally drive is hard for many women in Saudi Arabia, especially working women. With notoriously poor mass transit options, and the stigma attached to women riding the bus alone, Uber has changed the life of many Saudi women by giving them greater mobility and independence. While there are no official statistics on how many women use the service, anecdotal evidence suggest that 70% to 90% of Saudi riders are women. "A lot of them, I would say, are young women," says Saudi Arabia general manager Majed Abukhater. "We have some data to show that these women are starting to rely on Uber a lot more for their daily commutes; the proportion of trips that we see in Saudi during the weekday is actually very high relative to other locations. That's just kind of one indicator to tell us that women are really starting to rely on Uber for their daily commutes to work, or to school, or to university."
Eradicating blatant sexism is.
You know what would change women's lives more? Letting them drive.
From TFA: "for regulatory reasons, Uber in Saudi Arabia does not work with contracted drivers using their own cars—all Uber rides go through existing companies"
So Uber can follow local laws when they're forced to. Who would've guessed?
We must repress this immediately. Women with freedom. Think of the Islam.
If they enjoy Uber then perhaps theyd really enjoy a taxi service. Taxis, offer all the benefits of Uber with the convenience of government controls like licensing, inspection, background checks, and safety standards for vehicles as well as passengers. Then again, theres nothing like taking an uber from the Khalid international airport and being forcibly driven to the middle of Highway 40, your new final destination.
Good people go to bed earlier.
Sometimes 'unintended consequences' are beneficial.
I am working in an app to schedule septic tank cleanings by people and We Are a tech company!
I have another app to pay those cleaners and we are a tech company!
So, obviosly, I deserve a billion dollars each for being an like Musk!
so Uber is adding nothing. Nothing. All Uber is doing is trashing society by pushing their temporary contractors that aren't really employees and using them to put hard working people with jobs out of work. They are taking benefits from people that have jobs. They are killing jobs. Families are starving because of Uber's Republican-style hate of working people. The women in SA can already ride in a taxi and support society rather than riding in Uber and supporting our own destruction.
... not only that bud , but you can bet your last fucking penny their P.R dept will be pushing this shit everywhere to show what a "vital" service they supply..... but we all know you are spot on
The shari-ah holds that women are not allowed to travel alone without a proper male relative acting as chaperone. It is known as maharam or honor law. Women caught in Saudi Arabia without a proper male relative in the company of an unrelated male can be prosecuted. Since all uber drivers are male, (women can't drive in Saudi Arabia) and likely to be unrelated, unless these women have a constant supply of "proper" male relatives, they would not have freedom of movement, uber or no uber. I am no islamic scholar, so not very sure of this: The relatives who can act as chaperones are husbands, brothers, fathers, sons. Not very sure who among the in-laws are allowed to be chaperones as per mahram.
sed -e 's/Chuck Norris/Rajnikant/g' joke > fact
I haven't been in The Kingdom (KSA) in about 7 years, but back then women couldn't go anywhere without an adult male relative (father, brother, or husband) to protect them unless there were no men there. They had massive malls that were staffed and accessible only to women, where they could freely walk and talk with other women wearing western-style clothing if they so wished.
Since only men can legally drive on public roads, how does this work?! Wouldn't they still need to bring an adult male guardian along?
This is Uber being a middleman for a limo company that the women would have used (and have been using, according to TFA) anyway. I don't fully understand how Uber is making it easier for them.
In regard to calling the limo companies that Uber is currently using: "...the wait times would be half an hour," says Abukhater. "Sometimes these transport companies would be totally booked. The women would be literally, in some situations, unable to move around the city. Now that we've added this technology layer into the existing transport infrastructure, women don't have to call 10, 20 companies to try to find a driver. They can literally just open up the app. That's why we've seen the growth that we've seen."
Right there is a massive contradiction. If Uber is using existing infrastructure, your wait times are not changed. The only thing they're saving the Saudi's from is having to shop around. Oh how selfless and humanitarian of them!
How is there a social stigma that applies to riding the bus alone where there are dozens of witnesses to your behavior that wouldn't apply to riding alone in a strangers car?
"relied on private drivers (if they could afford them) or the limo companies that Uber now works with (for regulatory reasons, Uber in Saudi Arabia does not work with contracted drivers using their own cars—all Uber rides go through existing companies"
From the article, no change of labour is occurring in saudi, just a change in the access to it.
Because medallion holders in NYC will not let utility get in the way of their investments!
19 of the hijackers on 9/11 were Saudi. Osama Bin Laden was Saudi. We claimed to have "liberated" Iraq because Saddam's people were oppressed (after the WMD argument fell apart); so, why have we never "exported freedom" to Saudi Arabia?
Exactly what stranglehold do they they have on us (other than having gobs of oil)? And not like that's never stopped us before... I assume they must have Child-Porn pictures with Bush and Cheney. I can't quite understand the thinking of Dubya, assuming he was thinking at all....
If telephones are outlawed, then only outlaws will have telephones.
"relied on private drivers (if they could afford them) or the limo companies that Uber now works with (for regulatory reasons, Uber in Saudi Arabia does not work with contracted drivers using their own cars—all Uber rides go through existing companies"
From the article, no change of labour is occurring in saudi, just a change in the access to it.
Yes, so the headline would still be just as accurate if they put the word "Taxis" in instead of Uber.
If you are not allowed to question your government then the government has answered your question.
Half measures allow you to paper over the intolerance and sexism endemic to that society.
-- Tigger warning: This post may contain tiggers! --
Even Uber lets women are who are not allowed to drive transportation, women not in the company of a husband, male relative or other man assumed to be such, are subject to prejudice and rude behavior from males. In other words, if you are a woman walking around with out a male protector you are considered to be a prostitute or someone who does not mind men thinking you are a prostitute.
I don't think Uber is a cure-all for the oppression women suffer in Saudi Arabia.
What would Donald Trump think about women not being able to drive in the US.....?
you do know after world war 5 the ones that slipped out in world war 4 secretly re-invade themselves for the water wells which were once oil.
Maybe it's the beginning of the answer.
If Uber allows women to move more freely and work at jobs and go to school, something they weren't allowed before then I would think this is a first step.
Uber is not doing it. Taxis are doing it. Uber does not contract drivers in SA, they just use existing taxi services. Uber has nothing to do with liberation of women in SA other than making a claim to be responsible.
Terrible and expensive. But Uber has a rating system. As a result, Uber is much better and cheaper.
Now here is a way for any male Uber driver to drive any muslim woman!!!!!
http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=3fe_1204201816&comments=1
Interestingly, women were making the 'threat' in Saudi Arabia to allow taxi drivers to suck their breasts so that they become 'biological brothers' back in 2010 - and all very Islamic too.
http://www.barenakedislam.com/2010/06/20/saudi-women-let-us-drive-or-well-let-male-drivers-suck-our-breasts/
In short, Ai Ahzar the most respected Islamic University in the whole world made the pronouncement that a non-related man can be in the presence of a non-related woman if she gives him suckle. By the magic of a few trusted hadiths, a man suddenly becomes a biological relative of the woman and can therefore be around her.
By the way, this ruling has not been overturned!
Islam has nothing to do with repressing women.
Islam has EVERYTHING to do with the suppression of women.
http://www.wikiislam.net/wiki/Islam_and_Women
Wife beating is very much an Islamic institution condoned by trusted islamic dogma - http://www.wikiislam.net/wiki/Qur%27an,_Hadith_and_Scholars:Wife_Beating
Women are regarded as being 'deficient in intelligence' - http://www.wikiislam.net/wiki/Women_are_Deficient_in_Intelligence
How 'rape' is defined in islam is very different from everyone else's notions - http://www.wikiislam.net/wiki/Rape_in_Islam . From the article "There is no equivalent term for ‘rape’ in the Qur'an. Likewise, there is not a single verse in the Qur'an which even remotely discourages forced sex. In contrast, there are several verses in this book which give the green light to rape and other sexual crimes against women.
In terms of how the 'perfect' religion Islam treats women in practice, here are some statistics - http://wikiislam.net/wiki/Muslim_Statistics_-_Honor_Violence
"Saudi Arabia general manager Majed Abukhater says that while his office doesn’t keep precise gender data, observation and anecdotal evidence suggest that 70% to 90% of Saudi Uber riders are women."
This article is a pro-Uber bunch of marketing bullshit. Uber isn't changing anything for women in Saudi.
blindly antisocialist = antisocial