#Trending: Road-rage among Saudi women over 'exploitative' Uber deal

Women in Saudi Arabia have taken to social media to call for an Uber boycott and speak out against the government's recent massive investment in the popular car ride service.

Saudi women have recently expressed their outrage online over their belief that the kingdom will now be profiting directly from the controversial ban on women driving and "taking advantage of their plight".

Last week, Uber announced it had raised $3.5 billion from the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia to help fuel global expansion plans for the ride-sharing giant.

The Arabic-language hashtag #SaudiWomenBoycottUber has gained traction on Twitter shortly after the large cash injection was announced to the public.

Translation: "Saudi women are like cattle for transportation companies. The head of the company thinks the ban on women driving is a blessing for them."

Translation: "When women are denied the most basic rights and people move in to profit at their expense then women have the all the right to boycott as long as this issue is being exploited."

Translation: "Saudi women will not let their deprivation be exploited to make everyone else rich."

Translation: "I have deleted the app."


Uber has since responded by saying that it has provided a good alternative form of transport for Saudi women, who are the only women in the world prohibited from getting behind the wheel.

"Of course, we think women should be allowed to drive," Jill Hazelbaker, an Uber spokeswoman, told The New York Times.

"In the absence of that, we have been able to provide extraordinary mobility that didn’t exist before - and we're incredibly proud of that."