Today is the official start of the Women2Drive campaign in Saudi Arabia. It's still early but there are already a few reports of women taking to the roads.

In what seems to have been a night-time excursion before the official start, FouzAbd tweeted:

"Only mom is driving and I don't see any other women driving. But ppl r not harassing us at all"

"Drove all the way from our Uni where we celebrated my sister's graduation till our house. And then went out again and driving in AlSahafa"

"On our way back home and no one harassed us at all. Even thu some men stared at us"

Meanwhile, Ana3rabeya tweeted:

"Some Saudi Men are considering going out for a drive while wearing women's Abayas to confuse the police!"

It may be difficult to judge the success or otherwise of today's action, since it's not intended as a mass demonstration in a single place – more a case individuals asserting their rights here and there.

The authorities will probably claim there has been little response. My guess is that they will arrest a few women, but not so many as to imply that there has been large-scale defiance of the rules.

The important thing to keep in mind, though, is that this has never been intended as a one-off one-day protest. The idea is that from today women who have international licences will drive whenever they wish to do so.

The real measure of success will be how long it takes the authorities to cave in and start issuing Saudi driving licences to women.

Posted by Brian Whitaker, 17 June 2011.