Inside Saudi Arabia, where women are taking secret driving lessons in the desert to prepare for new laws

Inside Saudi Arabia, where women are taking secret driving lessons in the desert to prepare for new laws

A woman in a black niqab drives in Saudi Arabia

On a stretch of farmland on the outskirts of the Saudi Arabian capital Riyadh,

Rania sits nervously in the driving seat of her colleague’s car.

She puts the Nissan into gear and revs the engine before finally checking her blind spot and moving off, closely following her male companion’s instructions.

It may seem a rather mundane activity, but for the 40-year-old bank worker and mother-of-three it is the first time she has been behind the wheel of a car in her country.

As part of sweeping reforms, the royal court ruled that women will legally be allowed to drive from June 17 - lifting a long-standing ban which had become a symbol of the

oppression of women in the ultra-conservative kingdom.

Driving centres are due to open from March, but women eager to start learning are already making secret trips to the desert.

“I am not worried about being caught, you just have to pick places the government...

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