A 'report' distributed to Saudi Arabia's legislative assembly claims allowing women in the country the right to drive would result in increased premarital sex, various news outlets have reported.
The Associated Press cited rights activist Waleed Abu Alkhair, who said the document by a well-known academic was sent to the all-male Shura Council, which advises the monarchy. The ultraconservative stance suggests increasing pressure on King Abdullah to retain the kingdom's male-only driving rules despite international criticism.
UK outlets including the Telegraph and the Daily Mail say the report asserts female drivers would cause a steep decline in morality and "provoke a surge in prostitution, pornography, homosexuality and divorce."
Religious scholars from Majlis al-Ifta' al-A'ala, along with Kamal Subhi, a professor from the King Fahd University, prepared the report to evaluate the potential impact of lifting the ban on female drivers, according to the Daily Mail. The report was sent to all 150 members of the Shura council, the Hindustan Times says.
Professor Subhi reportedly describes sitting in a coffee shop in another Arab state where women are permitted to drive and having female patrons looking at him and "one made a gesture that made it clear that she was available."
"This is what happens when women are allowed to drive," he is quoted as saying, according to the Daily Mail.
There was no official criticism or commentary on the scholar's views, and it was unclear whether they were solicited by the Shura Council or submitted independently. But social media sites were flooded with speculation that Saudi's traditional-minded clerics and others will fight hard against social changes suggested by the 87-year-old Abdullah.
Saudi Arabia is the only country in the world where women are forbidden from driving. Over the summer, Saudi women took to the roads in protest and drove around the country in defiance of the ban. One woman was ticketed for driving without a license.
In September, 34-year-old Shaima Jastaniya was sentenced to 10 lashes for getting behind a wheel. The verdict was reportedly overturned by King Abdullah.
That same month, King Abdullah announced women would be permitted to vote in the 2015 local elections. However, women are still banned from serving as Cabinet ministers and face daily travel and mobility restrictions.
With files from The Associated Press