At the beginning of 2012 King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia has become something of a hero to women in his home country by. announcing that his government will begin enforcing a law that allows only females to work in women's lingerie and clothing stores, despite disapproval from the country's top cleric.
The 2006 law banning men from working in female apparel and cosmetic stores has never been put into effect.
This is partly because of the stance of hard-liners in the religious establishment, who oppose the whole idea of women working where men and women congregate together, like malls. Saudi women - tired of having to deal with men when buying undergarments - have boycotted lingerie stores to pressure them to employ women.
The kingdom's religious police, under the control of the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice, enforce Saudi Arabia's strict interpretation of Islam, which prohibits unrelated men and women from mingling. Women and men in Saudi Arabia remain highly segregated and are restricted in how they are allowed to mix in public.
The separation of men and women is not absolute. Women in Saudi Arabia hold high-level teaching positions in universities, many as ESL Teachers (English as a Second Language) and work as engineers, doctors, nurses and a range of other posts.
The strict application of Islamic law created an untenable situation in which women, often accompanied by uncomfortable male relatives, had to buy their intimate apparel from men behind the counter. And with the kingdom boasting 7000+ lingerie shops in total, there is clearly demand from Saudi women.
Although the decision affects thousands of men who will lose their sales jobs, the Labour Ministry said that more than 28,000 women, many of them South Asian migrants, have already applied for the positions.
Saudi's Arabia's most senior cleric, Sheik Abdul-Aziz Al Sheikh, spoke out against the Labour Ministry's decision in a recent sermon, saying it contradicts Islamic law. 'The employment of women in stores that sell female apparel and a woman standing face to face with a man selling to him without modesty or shame can lead to wrongdoing, of which the burden of this will fall on the owners of the stores,' he said.
The decree from the king was part of a push to reduce the amount of female unemployment in the conservative kingdom, currently at around 30 per cent. It is much needed as Saudi Arabia continues to invest heavily in the education of its people with a seemingly insatiable demand for ESL teachers as just one example.
It’s another small victory for women as the granting of the vote approaches in 2015. The change will also be appreciated by Western orientated residents such as the new women ESL teachers working at the new women only University.
Author: Chris Slay
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