JEDDAH: The Saudi government approved a measure on Tuesday evening criminalizing sexual harassment in the Kingdom, the Saudi Press Agency reported.
The Cabinet, chaired by King Salman in Jeddah, backed the legislation, which requires a royal decree to become law.
The measure, which was approved on Monday by the Saudi Shoura Council, introduces a jail sentence of up to five years and a SR300,000 ($80,000) fine.
“(The legislation) aims at combating the crime of harassment, preventing it, applying punishment against perpetrators and protecting the victims in order to safeguard the individual’s privacy, dignity and personal freedom which are guaranteed by Islamic law and regulations,” a statement from the Shoura Council said.
The Cabinet also lauded the efforts of the King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Center (KSRelief) during the holy month, offering Ramadan foodstuffs in Yemen, Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, Sudan, Somalia and Myanmar, for the Mekunu-cyclone-stricken people and the Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh, totaling tens of thousands of food baskets.
The Cabinet said that the assistance provided by the Kingdom comes from its feeling of standing by those in humanitarian crisis and extending support to needy communities and countries.
“The humanitarian, developmental and social assistance the Kingdom has extended to the Palestinian brotherly people from 2000 to 2018, worth more than $6 billion, embodies the keenness of the Kingdom to provide all forms of assistance and support for the Palestinian people as confirmation of the deep-rooted ties binding the two peoples of the Kingdom and Palestine,” the Cabinet said.
The Cabinet also expressed the Kingdom’s strong condemnation of the suicide bombing in the Shula area west of Baghdad, reiterating the Kingdom’s solidarity with Iraq against terrorism and extremism, and expressed condolences to the families of the victims and to the government and people of Iraq, wishing the injured a speedy recovery.
The Cabinet welcomed the statement issued by the mission of experts of the International Monetary Fund who visited the Kingdom for the Article IV consultations, and which predicted an improvement in growth for the current and medium term and progress in the implementation of ambitious reforms within Vision 2030.
