0:00:01.267,0:00:05.795 Allow me to start this talk with a question to everyone. 0:00:05.795,0:00:08.057 You know that all over the world, 0:00:08.057,0:00:10.852 people fight for their freedom, 0:00:10.852,0:00:13.058 fight for their rights. 0:00:13.058,0:00:16.219 Some battle oppressive governments. 0:00:16.219,0:00:20.955 Others battle oppressive societies. 0:00:20.955,0:00:24.811 Which battle do you think is harder? 0:00:24.811,0:00:27.283 Allow me to try to answer this question 0:00:27.283,0:00:30.363 in the few coming minutes. 0:00:30.363,0:00:36.179 Let me take you back two years ago in my life. 0:00:36.179,0:00:39.135 It was the bedtime of my son, Aboody. 0:00:39.135,0:00:41.819 He was five at the time. 0:00:41.819,0:00:44.259 After finishing his bedtime rituals, 0:00:44.259,0:00:48.341 he looked at me and he asked a question: 0:00:48.341,0:00:51.572 "Mommy, are we bad people?" 0:00:51.572,0:00:54.032 I was shocked. 0:00:54.032,0:00:57.189 "Why do you say such things, Aboody?" 0:00:57.189,0:00:59.524 Earlier that day, I noticed some bruises 0:00:59.524,0:01:02.107 on his face when he came from school. 0:01:02.107,0:01:04.073 He wouldn't tell me what happened. 0:01:04.073,0:01:08.136 [But now] he was ready to tell. 0:01:08.136,0:01:10.947 "Two boys hit me today in school. 0:01:10.947,0:01:14.316 They told me, 'We saw your mom on Facebook. 0:01:14.316,0:01:19.102 You and your mom should be put in jail.'" 0:01:19.102,0:01:22.243 I've never been afraid to tell Aboody anything. 0:01:22.243,0:01:26.947 I've been always a proud woman of my achievements. 0:01:26.947,0:01:29.162 But those questioning eyes of my son 0:01:29.162,0:01:31.987 were my moment of truth, 0:01:31.987,0:01:35.740 when it all came together. 0:01:35.740,0:01:40.158 You see, I'm a Saudi woman who had been put in jail 0:01:40.158,0:01:42.293 for driving a car in a country 0:01:42.293,0:01:47.248 where women are not supposed to drive cars. 0:01:47.248,0:01:49.639 Just for giving me his car keys, 0:01:49.639,0:01:53.495 my own brother was detained twice, 0:01:53.495,0:01:55.108 and he was harassed to the point he had 0:01:55.108,0:01:57.096 to quit his job as a geologist, 0:01:57.096,0:02:00.430 leave the country with his wife and two-year-old son. 0:02:00.430,0:02:02.528 My father had to sit in a Friday sermon 0:02:02.528,0:02:06.200 listening to the imam condemning women drivers 0:02:06.200,0:02:08.168 and calling them prostitutes 0:02:08.168,0:02:10.504 amongst tons of worshippers, 0:02:10.504,0:02:14.816 some of them our friends and family of my own father. 0:02:14.816,0:02:18.400 I was faced with an organized defamation campaign 0:02:18.400,0:02:21.382 in the local media combined with false rumors 0:02:21.382,0:02:24.240 shared in family gatherings, in the streets 0:02:24.240,0:02:26.984 and in schools. 0:02:26.984,0:02:29.328 It all hit me. 0:02:29.328,0:02:31.522 It came into focus that those kids 0:02:31.522,0:02:33.816 did not mean to be rude to my son. 0:02:33.816,0:02:37.886 They were just influenced by the adults around them. 0:02:37.886,0:02:41.355 And it wasn't about me, and it wasn't a punishment 0:02:41.355,0:02:45.169 for taking the wheel and driving a few miles. 0:02:45.169,0:02:48.018 It was a punishment for daring to challenge 0:02:48.018,0:02:51.715 the society's rules. 0:02:51.715,0:02:56.252 But my story goes beyond this moment of truth of mine. 0:02:56.252,0:03:00.048 Allow me to give you a briefing 0:03:00.048,0:03:02.240 about my story. 0:03:02.240,0:03:04.276 It was May, 2011, 0:03:04.276,0:03:06.235 and I was complaining to a work colleague 0:03:06.235,0:03:08.069 about the harassments I had to face 0:03:08.069,0:03:09.857 trying to find a ride back home, 0:03:09.857,0:03:13.341 although I have a car and an international driver's license. 0:03:13.341,0:03:15.466 As long as I've known, women in Saudi Arabia 0:03:15.466,0:03:17.952 have been always complaining about the ban, 0:03:17.952,0:03:20.368 but it's been 20 years since anyone 0:03:20.368,0:03:22.400 tried to do anything about it, 0:03:22.400,0:03:24.600 a whole generation ago. 0:03:24.600,0:03:26.736 He broke the good/bad news in my face. 0:03:26.736,0:03:29.893 "But there is no law banning you from driving." 0:03:29.893,0:03:32.097 I looked it up, and he was right. 0:03:32.097,0:03:34.776 There wasn't an actual law in Saudi Arabia. 0:03:34.776,0:03:36.916 It was just a custom and traditions 0:03:36.916,0:03:40.932 that are enshrined in rigid religious fatwas 0:03:40.932,0:03:42.936 and imposed on women. 0:03:42.936,0:03:46.024 That realization ignited the idea of June 17, 0:03:46.024,0:03:48.465 where we encouraged women to take the wheel 0:03:48.465,0:03:51.193 and go drive. 0:03:51.193,0:03:55.048 It was a few weeks later, we started receiving all these 0:03:55.048,0:03:58.254 "Man wolves will rape you if you go and drive." 0:03:58.254,0:04:00.920 A courageous woman, her name is Najla Hariri, 0:04:00.920,0:04:03.520 she's a Saudi woman in the city of Jeddah, 0:04:03.520,0:04:05.134 she drove a car and she announced 0:04:05.134,0:04:06.863 but she didn't record a video. 0:04:06.863,0:04:08.723 We needed proof. 0:04:08.723,0:04:11.584 So I drove. I posted a video on YouTube. 0:04:11.584,0:04:13.495 And to my surprise, 0:04:13.495,0:04:16.384 it got hundreds of thousands of views the first day. 0:04:16.384,0:04:18.090 What happened next, of course? 0:04:18.090,0:04:19.984 I started receiving threats 0:04:19.984,0:04:24.546 to be killed, raped, just to stop this campaign. 0:04:24.546,0:04:28.158 The Saudi authorities remained very quiet. 0:04:28.158,0:04:30.338 That really creeped us out. 0:04:30.338,0:04:32.465 I was in the campaign with other Saudi women 0:04:32.465,0:04:34.418 and even men activists. 0:04:34.418,0:04:36.882 We wanted to know how the authorities 0:04:36.882,0:04:40.490 would respond on the actual day, June 17, 0:04:40.490,0:04:42.219 when women go out and drive. 0:04:42.219,0:04:44.277 So this time I asked my brother 0:04:44.277,0:04:46.368 to come with me and drive by a police car. 0:04:46.368,0:04:49.122 It went fast. We were arrested, 0:04:49.122,0:04:52.806 signed a pledge not to drive again, released. 0:04:52.806,0:04:56.018 Arrested again, he was sent to detention for one day, 0:04:56.018,0:04:58.281 and I was sent to jail. 0:04:58.281,0:04:59.906 I wasn't sure why I was sent there, 0:04:59.906,0:05:03.083 because I didn't face any charges in the interrogation. 0:05:03.083,0:05:05.370 But what I was sure of was my innocence. 0:05:05.370,0:05:07.835 I didn't break a law, and I kept my abaya 0:05:07.835,0:05:11.711 — it's a black cloak we wear in Saudi Arabia before we leave the house — 0:05:11.711,0:05:14.693 and my fellow prisoners kept asking me to take it off, 0:05:14.693,0:05:17.366 but I was so sure of my innocence, I kept saying, 0:05:17.366,0:05:19.591 "No, I'm leaving today." 0:05:19.591,0:05:23.047 Outside the jail, the whole country went into a frenzy, 0:05:23.047,0:05:25.351 some attacking me badly, 0:05:25.351,0:05:29.076 and others supportive and even collecting signatures 0:05:29.076,0:05:33.319 in a petition to be sent to the king to release me. 0:05:33.319,0:05:35.103 I was released after nine days. 0:05:35.103,0:05:37.789 June 17 comes. 0:05:37.789,0:05:40.479 The streets were packed with police cars 0:05:40.479,0:05:42.640 and religious police cars, 0:05:42.640,0:05:44.943 but some hundred brave Saudi women 0:05:44.943,0:05:46.975 broke the ban and drove that day. 0:05:46.975,0:05:50.063 None were arrested. We broke the taboo. 0:05:50.063,0:05:55.406 (Applause) 0:06:00.407,0:06:03.799 So I think by now, everyone knows that we can't drive, 0:06:03.799,0:06:05.984 or women are not allowed to drive, in Saudi Arabia, 0:06:05.984,0:06:08.282 but maybe few know why. 0:06:08.282,0:06:10.866 Allow me to help you answer this question. 0:06:10.866,0:06:14.002 There was this official study 0:06:14.002,0:06:16.046 that was presented to the Shura Council -- 0:06:16.046,0:06:18.310 it's the consultative council appointed 0:06:18.310,0:06:20.293 by the king in Saudi Arabia — 0:06:20.293,0:06:22.334 and it was done by a local professor, 0:06:22.334,0:06:23.652 a university professor. 0:06:23.652,0:06:28.015 He claims it's done based on a UNESCO study. 0:06:28.015,0:06:31.007 And the study states, 0:06:31.007,0:06:34.799 the percentage of rape, adultery, 0:06:34.799,0:06:38.239 illegitimate children, even drug abuse, 0:06:38.239,0:06:41.327 prostitution in countries where women drive 0:06:41.327,0:06:44.849 is higher than countries where women don't drive. 0:06:44.849,0:06:46.186 (Laughter) 0:06:46.186,0:06:47.689 I know, I was like this, I was shocked. 0:06:47.689,0:06:50.809 I was like, "We are the last country in the world 0:06:50.809,0:06:52.762 where women don't drive." 0:06:52.762,0:06:54.928 So if you look at the map of the world, 0:06:54.928,0:06:56.621 that only leaves two countries: 0:06:56.621,0:07:01.007 Saudi Arabia, and the other society is the rest of the world. 0:07:01.007,0:07:04.095 We started a hashtag on Twitter mocking the study, 0:07:04.095,0:07:06.563 and it made headlines around the world. 0:07:06.563,0:07:08.327 [BBC News: 'End of virginity' if women drive, Saudi cleric warns] 0:07:08.327,0:07:09.592 (Laughter) 0:07:09.592,0:07:12.263 And only then we realized it's so empowering 0:07:12.263,0:07:13.727 to mock your oppressor. 0:07:13.727,0:07:18.226 It strips it away of its strongest weapon: fear. 0:07:18.226,0:07:21.830 This system is based on ultra-conservative 0:07:21.830,0:07:23.737 traditions and customs 0:07:23.737,0:07:26.984 that deal with women as if they are inferior 0:07:26.984,0:07:29.481 and they need a guardian to protect them, 0:07:29.481,0:07:31.685 so they need to take permission from this guardian, 0:07:31.685,0:07:33.851 whether verbal or written, all their lives. 0:07:33.851,0:07:36.307 We are minors until the day we die. 0:07:36.307,0:07:40.213 And it becomes worse when it's enshrined in religious fatwas 0:07:40.213,0:07:42.915 based on wrong interpretation of the sharia law, 0:07:42.915,0:07:45.105 or the religious laws. 0:07:45.105,0:07:47.230 What's worst, when they become codified 0:07:47.230,0:07:49.681 as laws in the system, 0:07:49.681,0:07:53.077 and when women themselves believe in their inferiority, 0:07:53.077,0:07:55.567 and they even fight those who try 0:07:55.567,0:07:59.137 to question these rules. 0:07:59.137,0:08:03.403 So for me, it wasn't only about these attacks I had to face. 0:08:03.403,0:08:06.217 It was about living two totally different 0:08:06.217,0:08:09.177 perceptions of my personality, of my person -- 0:08:09.177,0:08:11.889 the villain back in my home country, 0:08:11.889,0:08:13.912 and the hero outside. 0:08:13.912,0:08:17.987 Just to tell you, two stories happened in the last two years. 0:08:17.987,0:08:20.365 One of them is when I was in jail. 0:08:20.365,0:08:22.023 I'm pretty sure when I was in jail, 0:08:22.023,0:08:26.474 everyone saw titles in the international media 0:08:26.474,0:08:30.519 something like this during these nine days I was in jail. 0:08:30.519,0:08:33.996 But in my home country, it was a totally different picture. 0:08:33.996,0:08:35.665 It was more like this: 0:08:35.665,0:08:38.697 "Manal al-Sharif faces charges of disturbing public order 0:08:38.697,0:08:42.439 and inciting women to drive." 0:08:42.439,0:08:45.473 I know. 0:08:45.473,0:08:47.522 "Manal al-Sharif withdraws from the campaign." 0:08:47.522,0:08:50.089 Ah, it's okay. This is my favorite. 0:08:50.089,0:08:52.486 "Manal al-Sharif breaks down and confesses: 0:08:52.486,0:08:54.298 'Foreign forces incited me.'" 0:08:54.298,0:08:56.657 (Laughter) 0:08:56.657,0:09:01.854 And it goes on, even trial and flogging me in public. 0:09:01.854,0:09:05.282 So it's a totally different picture. 0:09:05.282,0:09:07.054 I was asked last year to give a speech 0:09:07.054,0:09:09.666 at the Oslo Freedom Forum. 0:09:09.666,0:09:12.251 I was surrounded by this love 0:09:12.251,0:09:14.386 and the support of people around me, 0:09:14.386,0:09:16.571 and they looked at me as an inspiration. 0:09:16.571,0:09:19.433 At the same time, I flew back to my home country, 0:09:19.433,0:09:21.358 they hated that speech so much. 0:09:21.358,0:09:23.897 The way they called it: a betrayal to the Saudi country 0:09:23.897,0:09:25.489 and the Saudi people, 0:09:25.489,0:09:28.850 and they even started a hashtag called #OsloTraitor on Twitter. 0:09:28.850,0:09:32.119 Some 10,000 tweets were written in that hashtag, 0:09:32.119,0:09:34.937 while the opposite hashtag, #OsloHero, 0:09:34.937,0:09:36.721 there was like a handful of tweets written. 0:09:36.721,0:09:38.661 They even started a poll. 0:09:38.661,0:09:41.944 More than 13,000 voters answered this poll: 0:09:41.944,0:09:44.970 whether they considered me a traitor or not after that speech. 0:09:44.970,0:09:47.996 Ninety percent said yes, she's a traitor. 0:09:47.996,0:09:51.886 So it's these two totally different perceptions 0:09:51.886,0:09:53.493 of my personality. 0:09:53.493,0:09:55.517 For me, I'm a proud Saudi woman, 0:09:55.517,0:09:57.116 and I do love my country, 0:09:57.116,0:10:00.045 and because I love my country, I'm doing this. 0:10:00.045,0:10:02.910 Because I believe a society will not be free 0:10:02.910,0:10:05.453 if the women of that society are not free. 0:10:05.453,0:10:15.382 (Applause) 0:10:15.382,0:10:17.734 Thank you. 0:10:17.734,0:10:20.550 (Applause) 0:10:20.550,0:10:23.174 Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you. 0:10:23.174,0:10:35.938 (Applause) 0:10:35.938,0:10:39.615 Thank you. 0:10:39.615,0:10:43.836 But you learn lessons from these things that happen to you. 0:10:43.836,0:10:46.054 I learned to be always there. 0:10:46.054,0:10:48.292 The first thing, I got out of jail, 0:10:48.292,0:10:51.612 of course after I took a shower, I went online, 0:10:51.612,0:10:54.831 I opened my Twitter account and my Facebook page, 0:10:54.831,0:10:57.119 and I've been always very respectful 0:10:57.119,0:10:58.626 to those people who are opining to me. 0:10:58.626,0:11:00.226 I would listen to what they say, 0:11:00.226,0:11:03.159 and I would never defend myself with words only. 0:11:03.159,0:11:05.567 I would use actions. When they said I should withdraw from the campaign, 0:11:05.567,0:11:08.725 I filed the first lawsuit against the general directorate 0:11:08.725,0:11:12.967 of traffic police for not issuing me a driver's license. 0:11:12.967,0:11:14.942 There are a lot of people also -- 0:11:14.942,0:11:17.247 very big support, like those 3,000 people 0:11:17.247,0:11:19.611 who signed the petition to release me. 0:11:19.611,0:11:22.815 We sent a petition to the Shura Council 0:11:22.815,0:11:26.047 in favor of lifting the ban on Saudi women, 0:11:26.047,0:11:29.256 and there were, like, 3,500 citizens who believed in that 0:11:29.256,0:11:30.889 and they signed that petition. 0:11:30.889,0:11:33.760 There were people like that, I just showed some examples, 0:11:33.760,0:11:36.872 who are amazing, who are believing in women's rights in Saudi Arabia, 0:11:36.872,0:11:39.600 and trying, and they are also facing a lot of hate 0:11:39.600,0:11:43.408 because of speaking up and voicing their views. 0:11:43.408,0:11:45.785 Saudi Arabia today is taking small steps 0:11:45.785,0:11:47.994 toward enhancing women's rights. 0:11:47.994,0:11:50.192 The Shura Council that's appointed by the king, 0:11:50.192,0:11:52.546 by royal decree of King Abdullah, 0:11:52.546,0:11:56.154 last year there were 30 women assigned to that Council, 0:11:56.154,0:11:58.682 like 20 percent. 0:11:58.682,0:12:01.410 20 percent of the Council. (Applause) 0:12:01.410,0:12:03.570 The same time, finally, that Council, 0:12:03.570,0:12:06.562 after rejecting our petition four times for women driving, 0:12:06.562,0:12:09.137 they finally accepted it last February. 0:12:09.137,0:12:14.127 (Applause) 0:12:14.127,0:12:15.964 After being sent to jail 0:12:15.964,0:12:18.817 or sentenced lashing, or sent to a trial, 0:12:18.817,0:12:20.906 the spokesperson of the traffic police said, 0:12:20.906,0:12:25.217 we will only issue traffic violation for women drivers. 0:12:25.217,0:12:26.655 The Grand Mufti, who is the head 0:12:26.655,0:12:29.431 of the religious establishment in Saudi Arabia, 0:12:29.431,0:12:33.543 he said, it's not recommended for women to drive. 0:12:33.543,0:12:38.073 It used to be haram, forbidden, by the previous Grand Mufti. 0:12:38.073,0:12:43.622 So for me, it's not about only these small steps. 0:12:43.622,0:12:45.187 It's about women themselves. 0:12:45.187,0:12:46.839 A friend once asked me, she said, 0:12:46.839,0:12:49.590 "So when do you think this women driving will happen?" 0:12:49.590,0:12:52.339 I told her, "Only if women stop asking 'When?' 0:12:52.339,0:12:55.113 and take action to make it now." 0:12:55.113,0:12:56.767 So it's not only about the system, 0:12:56.767,0:13:03.210 it's also about us women to drive our own life, I'd say. 0:13:03.210,0:13:09.362 So I have no clue, really, how I became an activist. 0:13:09.362,0:13:13.329 And I don't know how I became one now. 0:13:13.329,0:13:16.977 But all I know, and all I'm sure of, in the future 0:13:16.977,0:13:19.745 when someone asks me my story, 0:13:19.745,0:13:21.977 I will say, "I'm proud 0:13:21.977,0:13:24.833 to be amongst those women who lifted the ban, 0:13:24.833,0:13:28.608 fought the ban, and celebrated everyone's freedom." 0:13:28.608,0:13:31.905 So the question I started my talk with, 0:13:31.905,0:13:35.105 who do you think is more difficult to face, 0:13:35.105,0:13:38.062 oppressive governments or oppressive societies? 0:13:38.062,0:13:40.961 I hope you find clues to answer that from my speech. 0:13:40.961,0:13:42.417 Thank you, everyone. 0:13:42.417,0:13:47.185 (Applause) 0:13:47.185,0:13:50.309 Thank you. 0:13:50.309,0:13:55.993 (Applause) 0:13:55.993,0:13:59.517 Thank you. (Applause)