1/14 Saudi Arabia enacted its first anti-sexual harassment law in 2018, but advocates needed several attempts and nearly ten years to make it happen. This thread takes a look at these efforts that culminated with last week’s amendment to name and shame —

2/14 When the idea for an anti-harassment law first gained momentum in late 2000s, there was a strong push back by clerics and other conservatives. This may sound strange because you would think protecting women would be at the core of social values conservatives want to defend

3/14 Conservatives argued that such a law would sanction and encourage the mixing of men and women at a time when most aspects of public daily life in the country were gender-segregated, even though there have been high-profile harassment incidents

4/14 Some members of the Shura Council, which serves as an appointed quasi-parliament, sought to introduce anti-harassment legislation in 2008 as the govt pushed for women to work in the retail sector to tackle growing female unemployment and reduce dependence on foreign labour

5/14 Resistance inside and outside the council was strong. Conservative cleric Abdulrahman al-Barrak attacked preachers who called for easing restrictions on women employment and described allowing female cashiers in supermarkets as “the latest of the devil’s steps”

6/14 As a result, the draft law stalled failed to gather enough support, but its backers have remained optimistic as the topic came back up for debate after the late King Abdullah appointed women to the Shura Council for the first time in 2013

7/14 The decision to rein in the religious police in 2016 as Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman began pushing a social liberalisation agenda gave women hope that the anti-harassment law might not be far off. Prominent councilwoman @LatifahAshaalan urged the govt to bring it forward

8/14 On 26/9/2017, King Salman issued a landmark decree to lift the women driving ban. 3 days later he ordered drafting an anti-harassment law. Draft called for prison of up to 5 years and/or fines of up to SR300k for repeat offenders. Shura passed it in May 2018 in a 84/150 vote

9/14 While the law was widely welcomed, it was clear it will not single-handedly end the problem. As the #MeToo movement gained momentum everywhere, Saudi women also began using social media to speak up and share their experiences with harassment and the male guardianship system

10/14 Other decrees, court decisions recently asserted rights of women to travel without permission and live independently. Call it a slow attrition of the guardianship system, but activists say many challenges remain and waves of crackdowns made women fearful of demanding more

11/14 Members of the Shura Council have worked to amend the anti-harassment law to name and shame the violators because they believe it would be more effective than fines and imprisonment alone. “Defamation is for the larger good of society”, councilwoman Lina Almaeena said

12/14 Dr @fawziah1 , a @_ksu professor and one of the women who challenged the driving ban in 1990, called the amendment “unprecedented advance” but said next step is to ensure that victims of harassment can safely report it without being ostracised by family or society

14/14 As KSA undergoes this phase of social transformation, Qs about how men and women interact and what the govt is supposed to do about it, both at workplace and in public spaces, are likely to be recurring and more pressing.

Read more in my newsletter: https://www.riyadhbureau.com/p/name-and-shame

Sorry skipped number 13 by mistake