Bahrain: ‘Flirts’ will be taken to task

MANAMA — Bahrain plans to get tough on males as those who flirt in public, indoors or via phone against a woman’s wishes will undergo up to six-month jail or BD100 fine according to a draft law.

The proposed law also recommends a jail term of three to 12 months or fine not less than BD200 for bosses who harass their female staff publicly or privately.

Conservative MP Jassim Al Saidi would retable a proposal that was reviewed by parliament during the first legislative term but could not be approved after the end of parliamentary recess.
“The bodies concerned, including the ministry of interior, should tackle the recklessness of youth in neighbourhoods and commercial malls during the summer,” Al Saidi said.

The lawmaker’s move followed complaints from families who demand measures to stop incidents of harassment and action by youth to get the attention of females.

He said the bill would reduce the incidents of flirting by teenagers and reckless youth, which cause embarrassment to many women, and eliminate the chances of managers and heads of departments using their power to harass their female employees.

The government has been rejecting as according to the executive authority, the present penal law is quite adequate to deal with such offences.

The government said that articles 350 and 351 deal with flirting cases in public, indoors or over the phone, so the bill offers nothing new.

The Ministry of Justice earlier called on the legislative authority to stop submitting amendments to the penal law as the government was in the process of drafting a new law to address the situation.

-- Khaleej Times