JEDDAH, 26 May 2008 — A committee made up of experts including Shoura Council members is currently at work drafting a new law to prevent the sexual harassment and molestation of women in the workplace. 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.

The new law is significant, as thousands of Saudi women have begun working at public organizations and private companies. The Shoura chief emphasized the need for women to wear modest dress in the workplace in order to reduce the incidence of sexual harassment.

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 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 behavior 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 said.

“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 explained.

The law covers not only sexual harassment but also actions aimed at demoralizing a person and worsening his condition in the workplace and so negatively affecting his rights, honor and health. “The new law protects women as well as men,” Yamani said.

Asked why the Shoura Council had decided to enact the law now, he said 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 Qur’an and Sunnah, we find that Islam has addressed the issues of sexual harassment and demoralization. We are not creating any new law,” he added.

Dr. Mazen Baleelah, a member of the Shoura who raised the issue of harassment of women in the workplace, emphasized the importance of the new law in regulating the relations between men and women in the workplace. “Sexual molestation in workplaces must be monitored and those guilty must be given deterrent punishment,” Al-Riyadh Arabic daily quoted him as saying.

“The Saudi Labor 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 honor and chastity of women in the workplace,” he added. “There should be regulations to maintain respectful relationships between men and women in the workplace. Any actions or indications or comments violating the law must be taken into account and the persons involved must be punished,” Baleelah said.

Dr. Abdul Ilah Saaty of King Abdulaziz University said this law should have been enacted long ago in order to encourage women to work in companies and offices. “This is an extremely important law and we hope the Shoura and the Cabinet will pass it quickly,” he told Arab News.

Saaty said working women should be provided easy access to authorities in order to report any kind of sexual harassment. “There is a new trend to employ women in offices and we need strict laws to protect them. Those who make sexual overtures to their female colleagues should be given strict and deterrent punishment,” he added.