Riyadh, a wall to divide women and men working in lingerie shops
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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