If we could drive ourselves we wouldn't have this problem!

I know of an incident that took place here in the Eastern Province where a woman from our compound got into a taxi cab in the middle of the night to go to the airport. The woman never made it to the airport but instead, ended up in the emergency room, after fighting off the advances of a "local" cab driver - who, at the time, worked for what most of us consider to be a fairly reputable taxi cab company - after she resisted his advances and he tried to rape her. I do not know the woman, personally, but news such as this travels quite quickly in our small community.

At first, local officials denied that such an incident ever occurred, but when they were confronted by some of the nurses that treated this poor woman they were not able to hide the fact that she'd been severely beaten when she refused to succumb to being sexually molested - I was present when this confrontation took place. I suspect, due to the mere fact that the "local" men are not accustomed to being in the presence of a woman - not related to them - by themselves, that occurrences of this sort probably happen more often here, in The Sandbox, than we are made aware of. And, this article, would seemingly confirm that.

I very much doubt I will be in The Sandbox long enough to see the day that women will be allowed to drive. I think I've said before that even if we women were allowed to drive here, I'd be afraid to - and not because of the "social" reasons associated with women driving - where you hear excuses such as "What if we broke down? Men would stop to assist us." No, I'd be afraid to drive here because of the sheer madness and danger involved due to the fact that "locals" have absolutely zero respect for traffic regulations rules and drive like maniacs.

In the meantime, I know that when I call for a driver I specify that if he is NOT from Pakistan or India, I will NOT be getting in the car.