By Hassna’a Mokhtar, Arab News
JEDDAH: Lubna Alam, 35, was once a successful banker. She longs for the excitement and independence it brought her. Yet, she recalls the reasons that forced her to quit her job. She became fed up with her supervisor’s sexual harassment.
“My supervisor used to call my mobile late at night for trivial reasons. When I ignored his calls, he’d be rude to me the next day at the office. Whenever we held a meeting, he’d vulgarly comment on my looks or my clothes. It was psychologically and emotionally disturbing, and I didn’t know what to do,” said Lubna, nervously popping her fingers.
Lubna bent a lot of rules to keep working but was tiring of the situation. The straw that broke the camel’s back was when her supervisor gave her two choices: To go out on a date with him or resign.
With the absence of a legislated system that governs the relationship between men and women in the workplace, Lubna’s situation is a common problem.
In February 2008, Arab News reported that the Social, Family and Youth Affairs Committee at the Shoura Council was drafting a legal system to protect women in the workplace. The draft also included sexual-harassment laws. Local newspapers recently reported that the draft law suggests a SR50,000 fine and a prison sentence of up to three years for people found guilty of sexually harassing women in the workplace.
However, even if a law is issued, most sexual harassment cases would go undetected because of the unwillingness of women to report them, said Mazin Balilah, Shoura member at the Cultural and Informational Affairs Committee and the person who proposed the idea of having such laws. This leads to the question why women shy away from reporting harassment?
A recent report in Al-Madinah newspaper stated that women lack awareness, fear society’s reaction, and worry about their reputation and being accused of provoking men’s harassment.
Amani Al-Mohamadi is a 30-year-old saleswoman. Her work does not require direct communication with men. Once she struggled with a problem and had to consult her manager.
“I spoke to my manager. I found him extra nice to me. He asked for my cell phone number and gave me his in return. He said I could call anytime. Then he asked me not to share the number with anyone else. He started sending me text messages with disgusting sexual content,” she said.
Amani confronted her manager. Two weeks later she was transferred to a new branch. Fearing she might lose her job and the only means of financially supporting her family, Amani learned to put up with her manager’s twisted games and avoid confrontation.
“No one supervises the workplace in terms of sexual harassment, especially the private sector. This has contributed to an increase in such incidents,” said Amani.
Suhaila Zainul Abidin, an activist working with the Saudi Society for Human Rights, said that many women prefer remaining silent than reporting cases of harassment as they worry about damaging their reputations. “The harasser is the one to worry. He should be punished and defamed ... this will not happen unless women speak,” she said.
Last week, an Egyptian man was sentenced to three years in jail with hard labor for sexually harassing a woman in Cairo. He was also ordered to pay the woman $895 in damages. In hopes of a safer work environment, women are eager to see the same in the Kingdom. Working women want to be assured that employers and coworkers will not sexually harass them.
Showing posts with label sexual harrassment. Show all posts
Showing posts with label sexual harrassment. Show all posts
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
Friday, August 1, 2008
Egypt: Shame and Sexual Harassment in Egypt
What an awful time to be woman in Egypt: 98 percent of foreign women visiting Egypt and 83 percent of native Egyptian women, who were recently surveyed, said that they have been sexually harassed, says Mona Eltahawy.
NEW YORK – When I was only 4 years-old, and still living in Cairo, a man exposed himself to me as I stood on a balcony at my family’s home, and gestured for me to come down.
At 15, I was groped as I was performing the rites of the Haj pilgrimage at Mecca, the holiest site for Muslims. Every part of my body was covered except for my face and hands. I’d never been groped before and burst into tears, but I was too ashamed to explain to my family what had happened.
During my 20s, when I had returned to Cairo and wore the hijab, a way of dressing which again covers everything but the face and the hands, I was groped so many times that whenever I passed a group of men I’d place my bag between me and them. Headphones helped block out the disgusting things men -- and even boys barely in their teens -- hissed at me.
I learned to push and punch those whose hands thought my body was fair game, but I never found anything to soothe the burning violation. So imagine how much sharper that violation stung when I tried to complain to the police only to be shooed away --or when it was their hands which groped me.
Once, a riot policeman fondled my breast while he was pushing back a group of us journalists at the trial of an opposition politician. I yelled at him, and I complained to his supervising officer, who moved him to the back row of riot police and told me “Nevermind.”
So it was no surprise to learn that 98 percent of foreign women visiting Egypt and 83percent of native Egyptian women who were recently surveyed said that they, too, had been sexually harassed, and they have recounted a catalog of horrors similar to mine. What an awful time to be woman in Egypt.
When the Egyptian Centre for Women’s Rights reported that 62 percent of Egyptian men admitted to harassing women, I could only shudder at what sexist bullies so many of my countrymen are.
Even worse, when I read that the majority of the more than 2,000 Egyptian men and women that ECWR surveyed blamed women for bringing on the harassment because of the way they dressed, I honestly thought my countrymen and women had lost their minds.
In Egypt today, up to 80 percent of women wear one form of veil or another -- be it a headscarf or a full-body veil that covers the face too -- so you would think it was obvious that sexual harassment had nothing to do with the way a woman dresses.
So what is it that drives such a stubborn wish to fault women?
The answer lies in perhaps the saddest of all the Centre’s findings. Unlike foreign women, most Egyptian women said women should keep their harassment to themselves because they were ashamed or feared it could ruin their reputation. That’s when I was taken back full circle to the time I was groped on the Haj.
Shame.
This shame is fueled by religious and political messages that bombard Egyptian public life, turning women into sexual objects and giving men free reign to their bodies.
In 2006, It was the well-publicized episode of the mufti of Australia comparing women who didn’t wear the hijab to uncovered meat left out for wild cats. He was educated at al-Azhar, the religious institution in Egypt that trains clerics from all over the Sunni Muslim world. He was suspended, but his reprehensible views are very much at work among many other clerics. Today, as two bloggers in Egypt reported recently, there are email and poster campaigns with a message that uses candy to tell women that if they cover they will be safe from harassment, as covered candy is safe from flies.
When did Egyptian women become candy and when did Egyptian men turn into flies?
There is no law criminalizing sexual harassment in Egypt, and police often refuse to report women’s complaints. And when it is the police themselves who are harassing women, then clearly women’s safety is far from a priority in Egypt.
The State itself taught Egyptians a most spectacular lesson in institutionalized patriarchy when security forces and government-hired thugs sexually assaulted demonstrators, especially women, during an anti-regime protest in 2005, giving a green light to harassers.
So there was little surprise that during a religious festival in 2006, a mob of men went on a rampage in downtown Cairo, sexually assaulting any woman they came across as police watched and did nothing.
It was only when bloggers broke the news that the media reported the assaults. Still, the Egyptian regime has never acknowledged it happened. At a demonstration against sexual harassment that I attended in Cairo a few days later, there were nearly more riot police than protestors.
My sister Nora was 20 at the time, and she, with several of her friends, joined the protest. She had never been to a demonstration before but was incensed when she heard the State was denying something that had happened to her many times. We swapped our sexual harassment stories like veterans comparing war wounds, and we unraveled a taboo which shelters the real criminals of sexual harassment and has kept us hiding in shame.
And that is why I began here with my own stories -- to free myself of the tentacles of that shame.
Mona Eltahawy is an award-winning New York-based journalist and commentator, and an international lecturer on Arab and Muslim issues.
---Middle East Online
NEW YORK – When I was only 4 years-old, and still living in Cairo, a man exposed himself to me as I stood on a balcony at my family’s home, and gestured for me to come down.
At 15, I was groped as I was performing the rites of the Haj pilgrimage at Mecca, the holiest site for Muslims. Every part of my body was covered except for my face and hands. I’d never been groped before and burst into tears, but I was too ashamed to explain to my family what had happened.
During my 20s, when I had returned to Cairo and wore the hijab, a way of dressing which again covers everything but the face and the hands, I was groped so many times that whenever I passed a group of men I’d place my bag between me and them. Headphones helped block out the disgusting things men -- and even boys barely in their teens -- hissed at me.
I learned to push and punch those whose hands thought my body was fair game, but I never found anything to soothe the burning violation. So imagine how much sharper that violation stung when I tried to complain to the police only to be shooed away --or when it was their hands which groped me.
Once, a riot policeman fondled my breast while he was pushing back a group of us journalists at the trial of an opposition politician. I yelled at him, and I complained to his supervising officer, who moved him to the back row of riot police and told me “Nevermind.”
So it was no surprise to learn that 98 percent of foreign women visiting Egypt and 83percent of native Egyptian women who were recently surveyed said that they, too, had been sexually harassed, and they have recounted a catalog of horrors similar to mine. What an awful time to be woman in Egypt.
When the Egyptian Centre for Women’s Rights reported that 62 percent of Egyptian men admitted to harassing women, I could only shudder at what sexist bullies so many of my countrymen are.
Even worse, when I read that the majority of the more than 2,000 Egyptian men and women that ECWR surveyed blamed women for bringing on the harassment because of the way they dressed, I honestly thought my countrymen and women had lost their minds.
In Egypt today, up to 80 percent of women wear one form of veil or another -- be it a headscarf or a full-body veil that covers the face too -- so you would think it was obvious that sexual harassment had nothing to do with the way a woman dresses.
So what is it that drives such a stubborn wish to fault women?
The answer lies in perhaps the saddest of all the Centre’s findings. Unlike foreign women, most Egyptian women said women should keep their harassment to themselves because they were ashamed or feared it could ruin their reputation. That’s when I was taken back full circle to the time I was groped on the Haj.
Shame.
This shame is fueled by religious and political messages that bombard Egyptian public life, turning women into sexual objects and giving men free reign to their bodies.
In 2006, It was the well-publicized episode of the mufti of Australia comparing women who didn’t wear the hijab to uncovered meat left out for wild cats. He was educated at al-Azhar, the religious institution in Egypt that trains clerics from all over the Sunni Muslim world. He was suspended, but his reprehensible views are very much at work among many other clerics. Today, as two bloggers in Egypt reported recently, there are email and poster campaigns with a message that uses candy to tell women that if they cover they will be safe from harassment, as covered candy is safe from flies.
When did Egyptian women become candy and when did Egyptian men turn into flies?
There is no law criminalizing sexual harassment in Egypt, and police often refuse to report women’s complaints. And when it is the police themselves who are harassing women, then clearly women’s safety is far from a priority in Egypt.
The State itself taught Egyptians a most spectacular lesson in institutionalized patriarchy when security forces and government-hired thugs sexually assaulted demonstrators, especially women, during an anti-regime protest in 2005, giving a green light to harassers.
So there was little surprise that during a religious festival in 2006, a mob of men went on a rampage in downtown Cairo, sexually assaulting any woman they came across as police watched and did nothing.
It was only when bloggers broke the news that the media reported the assaults. Still, the Egyptian regime has never acknowledged it happened. At a demonstration against sexual harassment that I attended in Cairo a few days later, there were nearly more riot police than protestors.
My sister Nora was 20 at the time, and she, with several of her friends, joined the protest. She had never been to a demonstration before but was incensed when she heard the State was denying something that had happened to her many times. We swapped our sexual harassment stories like veterans comparing war wounds, and we unraveled a taboo which shelters the real criminals of sexual harassment and has kept us hiding in shame.
And that is why I began here with my own stories -- to free myself of the tentacles of that shame.
Mona Eltahawy is an award-winning New York-based journalist and commentator, and an international lecturer on Arab and Muslim issues.
---Middle East Online
Sunday, July 20, 2008
Bahrain: Activists step up efforts to penalise ‘spousal rape’
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Friday, July 18, 2008
Egypt: Egypt's sexual harassment 'cancer'
By Magdi Abdelhadi
Sexual harassment of women in Egypt is on the increase and observing Islamic dress code is no deterrent, according to a survey published this week.
The Egyptian Centre for Women's Rights (ECWR) describes the problem as a social cancer and calls on the government to introduce legislation to curb it.
The findings contradict the widely held belief in Egypt that unveiled women are more likely to suffer harassment than veiled ones.
More than 60% - including female respondents - suggested the scantily clad woman was most at risk. But in reality the study concluded the majority of the victims of harassment were modestly dressed women wearing Islamic headscarves.
ECWR head Nihad Abu El-Qoumsan said that even veiled women who were victims of harassment blamed themselves.
Western women who took part in the study demonstrated a strong belief in their entitlement to personal safety and freedom of movement, she says, but this was totally absent among Egyptian respondents.
No-one spoke about freedom of choice, freedom of movement or the right to legal protection. No-one showed any awareness that the harasser was a criminal, regardless of what clothes the victim was wearing.
Shocking attitude
The centre is campaigning for a new law that clearly defines sexual harassment as a crime and makes it easier for women to report it in Egypt - women like Noha Ostath.
Women are targets for harassment whether they are fully covered or not
The young film-maker told the BBC she was repeatedly groped in broad daylight by a van driver in a Cairo traffic jam as she walked on the pavement.
His behaviour made her so angry she ran after the van and held on to the side mirror to force the driver to stop so she could take him to a police station.
She was equally shocked by the attitude of other passers-by. Some tried to dissuade her from going to the police - others blamed her for what she was wearing (a baggy sports outfit).
In the end, after a tussle with the man that lasted for more than one hour, the strong-willed Ms Ostath dragged the man to the police station.
But even there, police officers refused to open an investigation and insisted on the presence of her father despite the fact that she is not a minor - she is 26.
Impudent allegation
After Noha's story was published in the Badeel daily, editor-in-chief Muhammad El Sayyed Said wrote that the behaviour of the crowd was characteristic of oppressed societies, where the majority identified with the oppressor.
He blamed the increase in sexual harassment on what he said were "three decades of incitement against women" from the pulpits of some of Egypt's mosques.
"This verbal incitement is based on the extremely sordid and impudent allegation that our women are not modestly dressed. This was, and still is, a flagrant lie, used to justify violence against women in the name of religion."
The British foreign office says Egypt is one of the countries with the highest number of cases reported to embassy staff regarding sexual offences against visiting women.
It warns them to be extra cautious in public places especially when alone because of the risks.
Ms Abou El-Qoumsan says Egyptians need to re-evaluate their value system and school curricula and to ensure that the rule of law prevails and prevents offenders and criminals walking free because of a breakdown of basic notions of right and wrong.
Thanks to surveys like this, one encounters an endless number of newspaper articles reflecting the feeling that Egypt is in the grip of a moral crisis.
Perhaps nothing illustrates Egypt's loss of a moral compass than the responses of some men in the ECWR study.
Some said they harassed a woman simply because they were bored. One who abused a woman wearing the niqab said she must be beautiful, or hiding something.
SEXUAL HARASSMENT IN EGYPT
Experienced by 98% of foreign women visitors
Experienced by 83% of Egyptian women
62% of Egyptian men admitted harassing women
53% of Egyptian men blame women for 'bringing it on'
Source: Egyptian Centre for Women's Rights
Participants in the survey were shown pictures of women wearing different kinds of dress - from the mini skirt to the niqab (full face veil) and asked which were more likely to be harassed.
---BBC News, Cairo
Thursday, July 17, 2008
Egypt: Two-thirds of Egyptian men harass women
By Cynthia Johnston
CAIRO (Reuters) - Nearly two-thirds of Egyptian men admit to having sexually harassed women in the most populous Arab country, and a majority say women themselves are to blame for their maltreatment, a survey showed on Thursday.
The forms of harassment reported by Egyptian men, whose country attracts millions of foreign tourists each year, include touching or ogling women, shouting sexually explicit remarks, and exposing their genitals to women. "Sexual harassment has become an overwhelming and very real problem experienced by all women in Egyptian society, often on a daily basis," said the report by the Egyptian Centre for Women's Rights.
Egyptian women and female visitors frequently complain of persistent sexual harassment on Egyptian streets, despite the socially conservative nature of this traditional Muslim society.
The behaviour could have repercussions on Egypt's tourism industry, a major foreign income earner, with 98 percent of foreign women saying they had experienced harassment in the country, the survey said.
The survey of more than 2,000 Egyptian men and women and 109 foreign women said the vast majority of Egyptians believed that sexual harassment in Egypt was on the rise, citing a worsening economic situation and a lack of awareness or religious values.
It said 62 percent of Egyptian men reported perpetrating harassment, while 83 percent of Egyptian women reported having been sexually harassed. Nearly half of women said the abuse occurred daily.
Only 2.4 percent of Egyptian women reported it to the police, with most saying they did not believe anyone would help. Some feared reporting harassment would hurt their reputations.
"The vast majority of women did nothing when confronted with sexual harassment," the survey said, adding that most Egyptian women believed the victim should "remain silent".
Some 53 percent of men blamed women for bringing on sexual harassment, saying they enjoyed it or were dressed in a way deemed indecent. Some women agreed.
"Out of Egyptian women and men interviewed, most believe that women who wear tight clothes deserve to be harassed," the survey said. It added most agreed women should be home by 8 p.m.
The survey said most of the Egyptian women who told of being harassed said they were dressed conservatively, with the majority wearing the Islamic headscarf. The harassment took place on the streets or on public transport, as well as in tourist destinations and foreign educational institutions.
---Reuters
CAIRO (Reuters) - Nearly two-thirds of Egyptian men admit to having sexually harassed women in the most populous Arab country, and a majority say women themselves are to blame for their maltreatment, a survey showed on Thursday.
The forms of harassment reported by Egyptian men, whose country attracts millions of foreign tourists each year, include touching or ogling women, shouting sexually explicit remarks, and exposing their genitals to women. "Sexual harassment has become an overwhelming and very real problem experienced by all women in Egyptian society, often on a daily basis," said the report by the Egyptian Centre for Women's Rights.
Egyptian women and female visitors frequently complain of persistent sexual harassment on Egyptian streets, despite the socially conservative nature of this traditional Muslim society.
The behaviour could have repercussions on Egypt's tourism industry, a major foreign income earner, with 98 percent of foreign women saying they had experienced harassment in the country, the survey said.
The survey of more than 2,000 Egyptian men and women and 109 foreign women said the vast majority of Egyptians believed that sexual harassment in Egypt was on the rise, citing a worsening economic situation and a lack of awareness or religious values.
It said 62 percent of Egyptian men reported perpetrating harassment, while 83 percent of Egyptian women reported having been sexually harassed. Nearly half of women said the abuse occurred daily.
Only 2.4 percent of Egyptian women reported it to the police, with most saying they did not believe anyone would help. Some feared reporting harassment would hurt their reputations.
"The vast majority of women did nothing when confronted with sexual harassment," the survey said, adding that most Egyptian women believed the victim should "remain silent".
Some 53 percent of men blamed women for bringing on sexual harassment, saying they enjoyed it or were dressed in a way deemed indecent. Some women agreed.
"Out of Egyptian women and men interviewed, most believe that women who wear tight clothes deserve to be harassed," the survey said. It added most agreed women should be home by 8 p.m.
The survey said most of the Egyptian women who told of being harassed said they were dressed conservatively, with the majority wearing the Islamic headscarf. The harassment took place on the streets or on public transport, as well as in tourist destinations and foreign educational institutions.
---Reuters
Monday, June 16, 2008
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
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
Friday, June 13, 2008
Saudi Arabia: Fine Line Between Work, Harassment
RIYADH, 13 June 2008 — Women in Saudi Arabia say that working as customer care representatives is a problem due to the propensity of men who call them to crack jokes, make inappropriate comments and even proposition them. And because of this overt sexual harassment by customers, women tend to quit these jobs.
“In spite of the good salaries, these women rarely stay in their jobs for more than three years,” said Adel Alomair, the head of customer care at a major bank in Riyadh.
Meanwhile the bank is in the process of expanding its customer service department, but may resort to hiring men if they can’t retain women.
Jobs such as customer service are ideal for addressing the high unemployment of women in the Kingdom, which is officially estimated at around 25 percent, a figure that would be higher if it included women who are not actively seeking employment.
Yomna Abdul-Jabbar, a 24-year-old Saudi who works in a customer services department at a software company in Riyadh, said she thinks the harassment from men who call in is due to the novelty of customer service by telephone in Saudi society and because not all Saudi men are accustomed to speaking to unrelated women over the phone.
“Many guys simply wish to speak to a lady!” she said. “And they assume we’re young and single. I receive two or three calls every day from men asking for my personal cell phone number, or even inquiring about marriage.”
Her colleague Mona, a 26-year-old Saudi with an associate’s degree in computer applications, says men often can’t accept getting help from women, and demand to speak to a male representative.
“I always try to be friendly and helpful, but I often hear something like, ‘Please, girl, put me through to a man.’”
Not all Saudi women have this cavalier attitude about the rudeness of men who call them. Norah A, who deals with clients over the phone for a marketing company in Riyadh, says she’s fed up with the constant sexual harassment and rudeness and is looking for a different job.
“Being verbally harassed is very devastating, and it affects my vocational development,” she said. “One caller was asking how would I feel if he circulated my work phone number and extension on online forums. Unfortunately abusive callers don’t receive any serious action by my company,” said Norah.
“The biggest action taken by her management was reporting to the telecom company to black list the numbers of the annoying people.”
Jihan Awwad, a 31-year-old Saudi customer service representative, says that she’s learned to accept these calls as part of the job.
“I used to be shocked at the ferocity of the verbal attacks I used to encounter, but I’ve gotten used to it,” she said.
Jihan has some advice for women customer reps who receive calls from perverts and other miscreants: hang up the phone.
“There is something called the: ‘end call button’ on our system,” she said. “We’ve been trained to press it with a smile as soon as we get a rude or abusive call.”
-- Najah Alosaimi, Arab News
“In spite of the good salaries, these women rarely stay in their jobs for more than three years,” said Adel Alomair, the head of customer care at a major bank in Riyadh.
Meanwhile the bank is in the process of expanding its customer service department, but may resort to hiring men if they can’t retain women.
Jobs such as customer service are ideal for addressing the high unemployment of women in the Kingdom, which is officially estimated at around 25 percent, a figure that would be higher if it included women who are not actively seeking employment.
Yomna Abdul-Jabbar, a 24-year-old Saudi who works in a customer services department at a software company in Riyadh, said she thinks the harassment from men who call in is due to the novelty of customer service by telephone in Saudi society and because not all Saudi men are accustomed to speaking to unrelated women over the phone.
“Many guys simply wish to speak to a lady!” she said. “And they assume we’re young and single. I receive two or three calls every day from men asking for my personal cell phone number, or even inquiring about marriage.”
Her colleague Mona, a 26-year-old Saudi with an associate’s degree in computer applications, says men often can’t accept getting help from women, and demand to speak to a male representative.
“I always try to be friendly and helpful, but I often hear something like, ‘Please, girl, put me through to a man.’”
Not all Saudi women have this cavalier attitude about the rudeness of men who call them. Norah A, who deals with clients over the phone for a marketing company in Riyadh, says she’s fed up with the constant sexual harassment and rudeness and is looking for a different job.
“Being verbally harassed is very devastating, and it affects my vocational development,” she said. “One caller was asking how would I feel if he circulated my work phone number and extension on online forums. Unfortunately abusive callers don’t receive any serious action by my company,” said Norah.
“The biggest action taken by her management was reporting to the telecom company to black list the numbers of the annoying people.”
Jihan Awwad, a 31-year-old Saudi customer service representative, says that she’s learned to accept these calls as part of the job.
“I used to be shocked at the ferocity of the verbal attacks I used to encounter, but I’ve gotten used to it,” she said.
Jihan has some advice for women customer reps who receive calls from perverts and other miscreants: hang up the phone.
“There is something called the: ‘end call button’ on our system,” she said. “We’ve been trained to press it with a smile as soon as we get a rude or abusive call.”
-- Najah Alosaimi, Arab News
Tuesday, May 27, 2008
Saudi Arabia: Government looks to put an end to harassment of women at workplace
JEDDAH — Eve teasing and harassment of women at work is a problem everywhere. In Saudi Arabia, with the number of women in the workforce rising, the possibilities have also increased. To deal with the problem, Dr Saleh bin Humaid, president of the 150-member Shoura Council, has urged the committee for social, family and youth affairs to prepare the law as quickly as possible.
Faisal Ahmed Yamani, a member of the team involved in drafting the law, said the law would be presented to the Shoura soon for its approval. The committee of experts that includes Shoura Council members is preparing a draft to prevent the sexual harassment and molestation of women in the workplace.
Dr Saleh stressed the need for women to wear modest dress in the workplace in order to reduce the incidence of sexual harassment.
The new law defines sexual harassment and explains its various types and conditions. It defines the responsibility of the employer and his role in preventing improper behaviour in the workplace.
“The law also includes punishments as well as administrative and judicial measures to be taken against workers involved in sexual harassment,” Yamani explained.
“Molestation includes words or suggestions or movements that would hurt a person, whether man or woman. It also covers unwanted sexual advancements and suggestions, causing uneasiness and humiliation or mental pressure to a person, whether man or woman,” he said.
The law covers not only sexual harassment but also actions aimed at demoralising a person and worsening his condition in the workplace and so negatively affecting his rights, honour and health.
Yamani said that the new law protects women as well as men and added that there was a pressing need to set out regulations in order to prevent the sexual harassment of women in the workplace and provide them with a safe and secure atmosphere in which to work.
“If we study the Holy Quran and Sunnah, we find that Islam has addressed the issues of sexual harassment and demoralisation. We are not creating any new law,” he said.
Dr Mazen Baleelah, a member of the Shoura who raised the issue of harassment of women in the workplace, emphasised the importance of the new law in regulating the relations between men and women in the workplace. He was reported as saying that sexual molestation in workplaces must be monitored and those guilty must be given deterrent punishment.
He said that “the Saudi Labour Law protects both men and women from vocational hazards and urges employers to provide their workers with health insurance. But it does not mention the protection of the honour and chastity of women in the workplace. According to him, there should be regulations to maintain respectful relationships between men and women in the workplace.
By Habib Shaikh, Khaleej Times
Faisal Ahmed Yamani, a member of the team involved in drafting the law, said the law would be presented to the Shoura soon for its approval. The committee of experts that includes Shoura Council members is preparing a draft to prevent the sexual harassment and molestation of women in the workplace.
Dr Saleh stressed the need for women to wear modest dress in the workplace in order to reduce the incidence of sexual harassment.
The new law defines sexual harassment and explains its various types and conditions. It defines the responsibility of the employer and his role in preventing improper behaviour in the workplace.
“The law also includes punishments as well as administrative and judicial measures to be taken against workers involved in sexual harassment,” Yamani explained.
“Molestation includes words or suggestions or movements that would hurt a person, whether man or woman. It also covers unwanted sexual advancements and suggestions, causing uneasiness and humiliation or mental pressure to a person, whether man or woman,” he said.
The law covers not only sexual harassment but also actions aimed at demoralising a person and worsening his condition in the workplace and so negatively affecting his rights, honour and health.
Yamani said that the new law protects women as well as men and added that there was a pressing need to set out regulations in order to prevent the sexual harassment of women in the workplace and provide them with a safe and secure atmosphere in which to work.
“If we study the Holy Quran and Sunnah, we find that Islam has addressed the issues of sexual harassment and demoralisation. We are not creating any new law,” he said.
Dr Mazen Baleelah, a member of the Shoura who raised the issue of harassment of women in the workplace, emphasised the importance of the new law in regulating the relations between men and women in the workplace. He was reported as saying that sexual molestation in workplaces must be monitored and those guilty must be given deterrent punishment.
He said that “the Saudi Labour Law protects both men and women from vocational hazards and urges employers to provide their workers with health insurance. But it does not mention the protection of the honour and chastity of women in the workplace. According to him, there should be regulations to maintain respectful relationships between men and women in the workplace.
By Habib Shaikh, Khaleej Times
Wednesday, February 6, 2008
Saudi Arabia: Shoura Panel Drafting Law to Protect Women in Workplace
wJEDDAH, 6 February 2008 — The Social, Family and Youth Affairs Committee at the Shoura Council is currently drafting a legal system for protecting women’s rights in the workplace, including sexual-harassment laws.
“The concept of women working in mixed environments is legally undefined according to Shariah and is understood in compliance with social norms,” said Mazen Balilah, Shoura member at the Cultural and Informational Affairs Committee, who proposed the idea of legislating the system during the council’s meeting on Monday. “It was a must to seriously consider a legislated system that governs the relationship between men and women in the workplace.”
The Research and Women Empowerment Department at the Jeddah Chamber of Commerce and Industry’s Khadija bint Khuwailid Center conducted a study about the problems that hinder the work of businesswomen. The department examined the Eighth Development Plan along with agreements the Kingdom has signed with international bodies and then organized a workshop for a group of businesswomen to discuss hurdles and difficulties they face.
“For women to contribute to the development of the country in all fields, problems that occur in the business world must be solved. There has to be a defined law that protects the rights of men and women in the workplace,” said Nashwa Taher, board member at JCCI. “For instance, an all-woman establishment isn’t allowed to run without having a director or chairman who is a man. This has to change. Women have proved to be professional and efficient in running their businesses.”
Maha Al-Hujailan, a medical researcher at King Khaled University Hospital in Riyadh, wrote an article in July 2007 discussing the problem of sexual harassment women undergo when hunting for jobs.
“Many Saudi women complain about sexual harassment when they apply for jobs or when they work in mixed environments,” said Al-Hujailain in her article. “A Saudi woman fears scandals and defamation even if she’s tyrannized ... There are no clear strict laws that prohibit sexual harassment against women regardless of their circumstances. This legal gloominess opens the door for violators and makes the Saudi woman an easy prey.”
When asked about statistics for sexual harassment cases in the Kingdom, Balilah told Arab News that current studies would collect qualitative, not quantitative, statistics through contacting companies, banks and organizations that employ women and suffered from similar problems.
“We’ve been receiving sexual harassment complaints every now and then from human recourses officials in different companies or reading about such cases in local media reports,” said Balilah. “Sexual harassment laws exist everywhere around the world in communities where women are part of the labor force such as in America and Europe. Once the law is discussed and drafted, the committee will present it to Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah for approval and implementation.”
- Hassna’a Mokhtar, Arab News
“The concept of women working in mixed environments is legally undefined according to Shariah and is understood in compliance with social norms,” said Mazen Balilah, Shoura member at the Cultural and Informational Affairs Committee, who proposed the idea of legislating the system during the council’s meeting on Monday. “It was a must to seriously consider a legislated system that governs the relationship between men and women in the workplace.”
The Research and Women Empowerment Department at the Jeddah Chamber of Commerce and Industry’s Khadija bint Khuwailid Center conducted a study about the problems that hinder the work of businesswomen. The department examined the Eighth Development Plan along with agreements the Kingdom has signed with international bodies and then organized a workshop for a group of businesswomen to discuss hurdles and difficulties they face.
“For women to contribute to the development of the country in all fields, problems that occur in the business world must be solved. There has to be a defined law that protects the rights of men and women in the workplace,” said Nashwa Taher, board member at JCCI. “For instance, an all-woman establishment isn’t allowed to run without having a director or chairman who is a man. This has to change. Women have proved to be professional and efficient in running their businesses.”
Maha Al-Hujailan, a medical researcher at King Khaled University Hospital in Riyadh, wrote an article in July 2007 discussing the problem of sexual harassment women undergo when hunting for jobs.
“Many Saudi women complain about sexual harassment when they apply for jobs or when they work in mixed environments,” said Al-Hujailain in her article. “A Saudi woman fears scandals and defamation even if she’s tyrannized ... There are no clear strict laws that prohibit sexual harassment against women regardless of their circumstances. This legal gloominess opens the door for violators and makes the Saudi woman an easy prey.”
When asked about statistics for sexual harassment cases in the Kingdom, Balilah told Arab News that current studies would collect qualitative, not quantitative, statistics through contacting companies, banks and organizations that employ women and suffered from similar problems.
“We’ve been receiving sexual harassment complaints every now and then from human recourses officials in different companies or reading about such cases in local media reports,” said Balilah. “Sexual harassment laws exist everywhere around the world in communities where women are part of the labor force such as in America and Europe. Once the law is discussed and drafted, the committee will present it to Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah for approval and implementation.”
- Hassna’a Mokhtar, Arab News
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