Women are allowed to cycle, but not to go anywhere: They have to be nowhere else but in parks, to be dressed in full Islamic body coverings and accompanied by a male relative. They are allowed to bike for recreational purposes only, not as a primary mode of transportation.

I would have thought women were not allowed to drive but allowed to cycle in Saudi Arabia if I did not read the recent news on lifting ban on women’s cycling. Now I know that Saudi women did not have the right to cycle until this week. I now know that it is a crime for them to cycle to a nearby park without accompanied by a male relative, and even if they are accompanied by a male relative it is a crime for women to cycle to a nearby hospital to see their sick parents or children.

I tell you what exactly happened in Saudi Arabia. Women who are in prison cells for their crime being women are now allowed to walk on a narrow and dark prison cell corridor while they are heavily shackled and guarded by the prison guard.