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May 28, 2012
Posted: 1109 GMT
Check out this youtube clip published a few days ago showing a Saudi woman standing up to the Mutawwin, or religious police. The woman is being told to leave the mall, apparently because she is wearing nail polish and – possibly – because some of her hair is showing. Although women are expected to cover their hair in public, many women in malls, hotels and restaurants in Saudi Arabia wear only the flowing black abaya, without covering their hair. It is not clear from the video where the incident took place, but it is not uncommon to be monitored in malls by members of the dreaded body officially called The Committee for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice. “You are not the boss of me” the woman yells in the video which according to an article published by The Saudi Gazette, prompted the commission to start an investigation into the incident. Despite efforts to reform the religious police, including setting up a human rights unit and signing a deal with the local tourism authority , many a woman will still reach for her headscarf when a Mutawwi is nearby! This video revived an ongoing debate in the kingdom about the role the religious police should play in Saudi. Here’s what some tweeted:
Here you can see photos from Inside the Middle East's most recent trip to Saudi a few months ago. Posted by: Schams Elwazer
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