Driving ban puts brakes on young women in Turkmenistan

Turkmen women defy driving ban, facing informal restrictions and challenges in obtaining a driver's license.

Mekhri feels “a sense of freedom and self-confidence” when she’s behind the wheel of a car — despite being forced to drive illegally because of an unwritten rule preventing women getting a licence.

In Turkmenistan, the reclusive Central Asian state where she lives, young women are effectively banned from driving.

“I know the rules of the road. I drive calmly, don’t overtake anyone and know how to park,” the 19-year-old said.

Like other women interviewed by AFP in Turkmenistan — ranked by rights groups as one of the most closed and repressive countries in the world — she withheld her surname.

There is no legislation specifically outlawing women under 30 from obtaining a driving licence.

But it is one of many informal prohibitions that are universally followed, so women who do drive must do so without this precious permit, which is indeed against the law.

“When my daughter wanted to enrol at the driving school, we were told that she could take lessons but that she would probably not pass the test,” said Guzel, Mekhri’s 57-year-old mother.