"Tell Car Companies To Do The Right Thing", 11 September 2018

When the Saudi government agreed to let women drive, major car companies publicly and rightly hailed that development. It was a step towards equality for women in the Kingdom and created a lucrative new market for the industry. Now, the courageous women that fought for their right to drive are being arrested, jailed, and harassed. It is a cruel irony that the women who fought for equality are in jail while the companies stand to make millions from the market those women have helped create. They should tell the government to stop going after these activists. On May 15... Saudi authorities... arrested at least 13 prominent women’s rights activists and accused several of them of grave crimes which appear to be directly related to their activism. At least nine women continue to be detained without charge, some of whom are awaiting a trial that could have them facing up to 20 years in prison. While Saudi Arabian authorities think they can get away with detaining women’s rights defenders while touting a new era of reform for women, they do care about what businesses and foreign investors think of them including car companies seeking to benefit from the new market... Call on car companies to support the release of the detained Saudi women activists... Volkswagen, Ford, Hyundai, Audi, Jaguar Land Rover, Renault, Nissan & General Motors.