Saudi women move from behind wheel to under the hood
Expanding women's rights is central to Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman's Vision 2030 agenda, intended to diversify the oil-dependent economy while softening Saudi Arabia's radical image.
An auto repair garage in Saudi Arabia is turning to an untapped source for new car mechanics: Saudi women, who just four years ago weren’t even allowed to drive.
At the Petromin Express garage in Jeddah, on the Red Sea coast, new female recruits check oil and change tyres alongside their male counterparts, part of a nationwide push to bring more women into the workforce.
Yet the women trainees have, perhaps inevitably, encountered a host of barriers as they enter a field that is male-dominated the world over — and even more so in the conservative Muslim kingdom.
Several told AFP their first months on the job have brought flashes of self-doubt, scepticism from relatives and outright hostility from some customers.
One “old man” who came by the garage immediately ordered all the women out, saying he didn’t want them going near his car, recalled recruit Ghada Ahmad.
“At the beginning, it’s normal not to trust us, because I’m a woman and he doesn’t trust my work as a woman,” said Ahmad, wearing grease-streaked white gloves and a long blue overcoat.