Hello Freedomphiles!  Do you remember a Freedom File I posted back on September 19th entitled Saudi Women Fight Back?  Here's a refresher:

So, Saudi women are finally taking a stand!  They are tired of being 8th class citizens.  Are they tired of being arrested for prostitution for walking by themselves in public?  Are they tired of being forced to cover themselves from head to toe?  Are they tired of honor killings?  Are they tired of not being able to travel abroad without a permission slip from a male relative?  Are they tired of being locked out of most occupations and schools?

No.

A group of women in Saudi Arabia is for the first time to lobby the kingdom's government for the right to drive cars.

Members of the Committee of Demanders of Women's Right to Drive Cars plan to deliver a petition to King Abdullah by Sunday, Saudi Arabia's National Day.

Well, it's a start!

So, I unexpectedly ran across a follow up to that story this morning while looking through my big stack of stuff:

Saudi Arabia is to lift its ban on women drivers in an attempt to stem a rising suffragette-style movement in the deeply conservative state.

Government officials have confirmed the landmark decision and plan to issue a decree by the end of the year...

...The royal family has previously balked at granting women driving permits, claiming the step did not have full public support. The driving ban dates back to the establishment of the state in 1932, although recently the government line has weakened.

"There has been a decision to move on this by the Royal Court because it is recognised that if girls have been in schools since the 1960s, they have a capability to function behind the wheel when they grow up," a government official told The Daily Telegraph. "We will make an announcement soon."

Wow, that's pretty decent news, even if it does sound a bit underwhelming.  The best news out of the article is this:

The move is designed to forestall campaigns for greater freedom by women, which have recently included protesters driving cars through the Islamic state in defiance of a threat of detention and loss of livelihoods.

Sure, yeah, they're throwing the women a bone and hoping that it'll shut them up for awhile.  But there are two significant things to take from this.  The first is obviously that they are trying to shut them up by giving them something, rather than a persuasive stoning.  And also, change seems to happen incrementally, and they are one step closer to their goal of equality, with their opponents on their heels instead of digging them into the sand.

Full story here.