Manal Al-Sharif Women's rights activist in Saudi Arabia Date of Birth: 25.04.1979 Country: Saudi Arabia

Manal al-Sharif: A Biography

Manal al-Sharif, an activist for women's rights in Saudi Arabia, had to wait 30 years, endure multiple trials and subsequent imprisonments, and withstand millions of curses and insults to prove otherwise. She was born on April 25, 1979, in Mecca, Saudi Arabia. Unlike many other girls, she successfully completed school and enrolled at King Abdulaziz University, one of the country's most prestigious universities, where she studied information technology.

During her time at university, Manal began engaging in social work aimed at improving women's rights in the country. The main issue she encountered was the fact that technically, women in Saudi Arabia have equal rights to men, but societal pressure and generational beliefs primarily influenced their lives. Rather than laws, it was their own husbands who prevented them from engaging in "men's work" to avoid embarrassment among their neighbors.

Realizing that the campaign would be doomed without the support of the international community and the online community, Manal, along with other women, created a Facebook page called "Women2Drive" in 2011. Within a month, the page was shared by over 12,000 people, and the organizers urged all Saudi women to drive around their hometowns. Manal's idea was not just to protest against the existing system but to allow women to attend driving lessons and get behind the wheel in critical situations.

In late May, a video appeared on the page showing Manal driving a car through an ordinary Saudi Arabian city, proudly facing the bewildered gazes of passersby and other drivers who were unable to look away from this unprecedented event. She was detained by the religious police but released just six hours later. By that time, the video had been removed from the official page, and her social media accounts were hacked and deleted. Fortunately, journalists from the New York Times had the foresight to publish the video on the newspaper's official website, and the world began to follow Manal's every move.

Despite being repeatedly detained over the following days, videos of other women driving started to appear on social media. Each woman was detained and released under the threat of imprisonment if caught again. After her release, Manal wrote a letter to the King of Saudi Arabia, attempting to explain that none of the campaign participants had violated any laws or intended to offend anyone. Soon after, Manal drew attention to the large number of women in prison simply because they could not afford to pay off debts amounting to a few dollars. Within a few days, the campaign managed to raise the necessary funds to free 22 women.

Manal al-Sharif's activities received various evaluations. In the West, she was seen as a human rights advocate, while Arab publications increasingly portrayed her as a "threat to society" and a violator of longstanding traditions. In January 2012, an article appeared in a newspaper claiming that Manal had died in a car accident while driving, but this information was refuted a few days later. Shortly before this incident, she spoke out against the adoption of a new law that proposed a service to inform men via SMS every time their wives crossed the country's border.

In February 2012, Manal attempted to bring public attention to the death of five-year-old Lama al-Ghamdi, who was beaten, raped, and burned by her own father. As punishment, he received a four-month prison sentence and a fine of $50,000. Manal has been a recipient of various international awards. In 2012, she was included in Time magazine's list of "100 Most Influential People in the World." That same year, she was awarded the Vaclav Havel Prize for Creative Dissent.