这个不准女性开车的国家，终于要有女司机啦！

世界上唯一禁止女性开车的国家终于要有“女司机”啦！

沙特阿拉伯日前颁布国王令，首次允许该国女性驾车。相关部门正在起草文件，预计于2018年6月起实施。

The country's US ambassador, Prince Khaled bin Salman, said it was "an historic and big day" and "the right decision at the right time".
沙特驻美大使哈立德•本•萨勒曼王子称这是“历史性的大日子”，是“正确时机做出的正确决定”。

Prince Khaled bin Salman

He confirmed that women will not have to get permission from their male guardians to take driving lessons, and would be able to drive anywhere they liked.
他证实，女性不必得到男性监护人的许可就能上驾驶课，并且可以开车到任何她们想去的地方。

The move was welcomed by the US state department, which called it "a great step in the right direction".
美国国务院对此举表示欢迎，称“沙特向正确方向迈进了一大步”。

UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres echoed that sentiment.
联合国秘书长安东尼奥·古特雷斯也赞同这一观点。

不少沙特女性得知这一消息后已经难掩兴奋，想要体验一把驾车兜风的快感。

沙特是世界上唯一一个禁止女性开车的国家。1957年，该国首都利雅得市颁布了禁止女性开车的法令。

Under the current system, only men are allowed driving licenses and women who drive in public risk being arrested and fined.
在现行制度下，只有男性才能获得驾驶执照，而在公共场所开车的妇女会被逮捕并被处以罚款。

Because of the law, many families have had to employ private drivers to help transport female relatives.
由于这样的法律规定，许多家庭不得不雇用私人司机帮助接送女性亲属。

多年来，沙特的权益组织一直在争取女性开车的权利，一些人因为违抗规定而被监禁。如今，经过漫长的维权斗争，沙特女性终于如愿以偿。

Saudi activist Loujain al-Hathloul, who was detained for 73 days in 2017 for flouting the ban, tweeted "thank God" following the announcement.
沙特社会活动人士Loujain al Hathloul在今年因为无视女性禁止驾车的法令而被拘留73天，她在得知这个消息后发推特称“感谢主”。

Manal al-Sharif, an organizer of the Women2Drive campaign who has also been imprisoned for driving, said on Twitter that Saudi Arabia would "never be the same again".
Women2Drive运动的组织者Manal al-Sharif也曾因驾驶汽车被关押。她在推特上说，沙特“再也不像以前那样了”。

吉达市的社会活动家Sahar Nassif称自己“非常激动，高兴得上蹿下跳”（very, very excited - jumping up and down and laughing），她告诉BBC：

"I'm going to buy my dream car, a convertible Mustang, and it's going to be black and yellow."
“我要买我梦寐以求的汽车，一辆黑黄相间的野马敞篷车。”

除了Sahar Nassif，不少沙特女性也在推特上晒出了她们梦想中的座驾：

不少人认为，沙特废除女性驾车禁令是该国历史的一大进步，有助于性别平等和社会公平。BBC安全事务通讯员法兰克•加德纳分析称：

This decree is huge for Saudi Arabia. For decades now, Saudi women, many of whom are extremely well-educated and ambitious, have been waiting for their chance to participate fully in their country's economy.
这项法令对沙特阿拉伯来说意义重大。几十年来，沙特女性，包括许多受过良好教育、有事业心的女性一直在寻求充分参与到该国经济活动中的机会。

The reason it has taken so long is the long-standing opposition from religious conservatives, who have expressed views varying from "they are too stupid to drive" to "it will lead to intolerable mingling of the sexes".
这一禁令持续至今，是因为长久以来宗教保守派始终反对女性驾车，他们的反对观点包括“女性过于愚蠢，不能开车”，“此举将导致无法容忍的两性交融”。

For all this time families have had to stretch their budgets to the limit, as they have had to hire in imported chauffeurs from south and south-east Asia, house them, feed them and insure them. An estimated 800,000 imported chauffeurs currently ferry Saudi women around.
一直以来，沙特家庭不得不支付高昂的开销，因为他们需要雇佣来自南亚、东南亚地区的司机，为他们提供食宿和保险。沙特目前约有80万接送女性的外国司机。

Yet this decree is in line with a programme called Vision 2030, promoted by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman, to modernize Saudi society and bring it more into line with the rest of the world.
而这项法令与沙特王储穆罕默德•本•萨勒曼支持的《2030远景规划》方向一致，共同推动沙特社会现代化，与世界进一步接轨。

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman

英文来源：BBC
翻译&编辑：董静
审校：丹妮