Saudi Women, Shifting Gear, Sue for Right to Drive

RIYADH—A court in Saudi Arabia agreed to hear the first lawsuits by Saudi women challenging the kingdom’s de facto ban on women driving, a lawyer for one of the women said.

The legal push is a shift by activists after years of simply appealing to Saudi leaders for permission to drive and, more rarely, taking to the roads in small numbers to test enforcement.

Since mid-2011, the limited push to win women the right to drive has been one of the few fronts in a country largely bypassed by the Arab Spring activist movements of the past year.

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