Women Drivers behind the Wheels in Mogadishu

Streets in the Somali capital has been a no-go-area for women drivers for the past 22 years because of the danger in the once chaotic city's roads and the ban imposed by militants on women from taking the driver's seat. But things have changed following the ouster of the Al Shabaab group from the capital Mogadishu and its peripheries, and because of the growing stability in the seaside city more women are hitting the roads in their cars. Faisa Harun is a local non-governmental organization worker in Mogadishu and has been driving to work for the past few months. She said driving was liberating for her and other women drivers. "I am really pleased that I can now drive to work and go places in Mogadishu in my car. This is empowering us and enabling us to move around the city," Harun told Xinhua in Mogadishu. Somali women have always been able to drive and have not faced the same societal objections as women in some other countries did, but the outbreak of the civil war in the country in 1991 and the lawlessness that followed made it impossible for them to drive safely. The rebel group of Al Shabaab, who until 2011 ruled much of southern and central Somalia including large swathes of the capital Mogadishu, banned women from driving. But the fortunes of women drivers have changed and the city is transforming as peace takes hold. As the Somali capital starts to recover from years of conflict and lawlessness, streets in Mogadishu have been installed with solar-powered lighting and renovation work is continuing in much of the city's roads. Traffic police are back on the roads to help the flow of the ever growing number of vehicles on the streets, some of which are now driven by increasing army of women drivers. Aisha Dualeh, a young business women and one of the hundreds of Somalis from the diaspora in Mogadishu, said that at first people were surprised to see women drivers and some male motorists and pedestrians teased them but that things are slowing changing. "For many who have not seen women behind the wheels for so long it has become surprise to them and some even teased us on the road but Somali women are coming on board and taking their rightful place as equal partners with men in this country," Dualeh told Xinhua as she drove to her newly-opened shop in Mogadishu. Mohamed Gurey, a university lecturer in Mogadishu, said the arrival of women drivers in the streets of Mogadishu is a good sign that "the dark days" of the Somali capital once labeled as the most dangerous city in the world are fast coming to an end. "It is really a good sign and many people do appreciate the fact that Somali women are once more enjoying the liberty of being able to drive to work and to anywhere else they want," Gurey said.

 

Source: Xinhua