Saudi Arabia is a country that oppresses females, treating them as second class citizens. Recently, authorities arrested a young woman who wore a skirt and crop top in public. Her head was not covered.
The video, posted to Snapchat, “show the woman walking through an ancient fort in Ushayqir, a village in Najd province about 95 miles from the capital, Riyadh,” reports the Washington Post.
Saudi Arabia requires women to cover themselves in public, typically by wearing an abaya (a long, loose, robe) and a hijab, which covers the hair. Most Saudi women also wear niqabs or veils that cover their faces.
Saudi state television station Al Ekhbariyaudi state television station Al Ekhbariya Saudi state television station Al Ekhbariyaudi state television station Al Ekhbariya reported that authorities have “seized” the woman in the video for wearing “suggestive clothing.”
Translation: We must look forward in this conservative country.
From The Guardian:
To westerners, her outfit is that of a typical summer tourist – sunglasses, a short skirt, short T-shirt and her head uncovered. But it breaches Saudi Arabia’s strict dress code requiring women to wear headscarves and abayas (full-length robes) in public. Most also cover their face with a black veil, though exceptions are made for visiting dignitaries.The videos, filmed in a region home to many of Saudi Arabia’s most conservative tribes and families, appeared to be a deliberate protest against clothing rules and has prompted calls for the woman to be prosecuted. But the woman has told the authorities that the videos were posted without her knowledge.
Saudi writer Ibrahim al-Munayif criticized the woman on Twitter:
Translation: If everyone rebelled against the laws then it’d lead the country into a mess.
But others have taken to social media to defend the woman and denounce Saudi Arabia’s ridiculous laws. From The Washington Post:
But others offered their support for the woman, suggesting her behavior was brave and that prominent foreigners sometimes dress similarly when visiting Saudi Arabia, and they are exempted from the country’s dress codes. Many of them pointed out that Melania Trump and Ivanka Trump did not wear abayas when they visited the country in May, to little public outcry.
Translation: Saudi community exudes contradictions. It allows Trump women to go without, but hurls a Saudi girl and demands her trial.
The status of the woman arrested is currently unclear.
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