02/02/2013, 00.00
SAUDI ARABIA
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Riyadh, a wall to divide women and men working in lingerie shops

Retailers will have 30 days to comply with the legislation. The wall will serve to allow women to work in lingerie, cosmetics and clothing shops, according to the dictates of sharia. Provided 44 thousand new jobs for women. The monarchy sets new limits on "Mutawa” religious police. An end to interrogations, searches and summary arrests.

Riyadh (AsiaNews / Agencies) - A concrete wall will divide women and men employed in lingerie and cosmetics shops. It's the latest idea of ​​the Saudi government to combat 35% unemployment amongst women, and comply with the Islamic Sharia, which imposes strict separation between persons of opposite sex who do not have blood ties. All lingerie, cosmetics or clothing boutiques will have 30 days to adapt to the measure, with a penalty, and in severe cases the closure of the business. The wall should not be less than 1.6 meters high. Sources claim that the Ministry of Labour opening to women in shops will lead to about 44 thousand new jobs.

The "muttawa", the fearsome religious police responsible for ensuring the effective implementation of Islamic law among the population, will be in charge of implementing the law. Yesterday, the Saudi monarchy set new limits on the powers of the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice (the muttawa), for the benefit of the police. The agents of the notorious Mutawa can no longer carry out interrogations, searches or summary arrests. The possibility of arrest applies only to crimes in flagrante delicto. Among them are the harassment of women, the consumption of alcohol and drugs and witchcraft.

In Saudi Arabia, women are prohibited from various jobs. Those few who have jobs, including those operating in high finance, must always be under the control of a male "guardian". Because of these restrictions, about 1.7 million women are without a job, even if more than 50% have a university education. The Gulf kingdom is the only country in the world that forbids women to drive a car, vote in elections and demands they have permission of a man to work, travel or open a bank account.

First proposed in January 2012, the Saudi religious authorities took a year to approve the law allowing women to work in beauty shops, clothing, footwear and bag stores. The measure was approved only in January 2013. Imams and other religious figures have examined every loophole in the light of the dictates of sharia, trying out the "novelty" in some shops of the major Saudi cities, before extending the measure to the entire country. In the past, women who went to buy underwear were served by male staff. King Abdullah recently announced that 30 women will be part of the Shura Council, which will be voted on in the coming months. Even in this case the two sexes will be divided by a wall and have separate entrances.

 

 

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