A video allegedly capturing the moment when a group of men sexually harass women in the city of Dhahran, the eastern province of Saudi Arabia, sparked outrage on the social media.
It led many social media users to call for harsher laws punishing séxual harassment in the kingdom.
The video shows a group of men chasing women in what seems to be a car park, with an apparent scuffle going on between the two groups. The men heckle and follow the women, one of whom responds by kicking a man who grabbed her.
A police spokesman for the province in question stated they have seen the video and will analyze it to identify the harassers, describing the incident as 'inappropriate behavior.'
A Twitter hashtag for the incident has opened the debate on the issue of séxual harassment in Saudi Arabia.
Many videos show bystanders in the parking lot watching the incident occur or recording it with their phones, leaving many to ask why there was no visible intervention.
However, former judge and member of the Shura Council Mohammad al-Dahim told Al Arabiya that séxual harassment is not a phenomenon that occurs in Saudi Arabia, even if it appears so on social media.
Many condemned the men's behaviour, while others debated if the women could have avoided harassment.
Saudis online are using the hashtag #تحرش_شباب_بفتيات_بالشرقية ("Youth harassment of girls in Eastern province"), which was mentioned more than 60,000 times in a day.
Some question the moral behind the video:
Some online blamed the women for getting themselves in such a situation, arguing that women should know better:
Others have said the government should do more to prevent such harassment. The police in the Eastern Province are reportedly investigating the incident.
Translation @alburaidi506: The absence of authority and the absence of law increases deviant practices and what is coming is even more dangerous.
No comments:
Post a Comment