The work environment in Saudi Arabia is increasing the likelihood of men and women working together. Even women who are self-employed will at times have to deal with male colleagues and counterparts, because most company managers are men.
There is no problem with women working with men so long as women abide by proper Islamic dress codes and morals. However, there lacks any clear sexual-harassment laws in the Kingdom, even though there are cases of women who have had their professional lives made miserable through sexual harassment, even in the public sector.
There have been media reports that describe such incidents. The website for Al Arabiya news channel recently reported that many women do not report incidents of sexual harassment for fear of inviting shame and suspicion, or because family members pressure them to keep silent. In some cases, women may invite harassment by exchanging racy jokes with male counterparts. But, for the most part it seems that men view women as sex objects to prey upon.
Reem, a Saudi woman working for a private company, says she feels that men go out of their way to interact with women in the work place. Her job requires her to contact male colleagues from another department by phone. She says her male colleagues seem to consider her calls an invitation to flirt.
I was told about a painful situation involving a woman who applied for a job at a computer training center in Riyadh. The woman who answered the phone told her rudely to submit her CV before hanging up. She continued to call, and the woman continued to be rude. She decided to complain to the manager, a man, who apologized for his assistant’s behavior and asked her to call him later on his cell phone about the job.
When she called, it became apparent quickly that the manager was trying to draw her into a long conversation, asking personal questions inappropriate for a job interview. She decided not to call him anymore, but it was too late, the trap was sprung; the manager began calling her, promising a job, saying that behind her beautiful voice must be a great beauty and mind. She said the final straw came when she discovered that he had sent an assistant to take photos of her.
Women seeking jobs in the Kingdom should consider themselves lucky if they land jobs where they work side-by-side with decent men. The problem is rooted in our culture and mentality that looks down on women regardless of their educational and professional acumen. Furthermore, Saudi society tends to blame the woman for men’s behavior, saying that they must have done something to invite the harassment.
And the system doesn’t seem to offer any recourse for women that aren’t so lucky as to find themselves working with decent men that respect their personal independence and rights. Lawyers advise that when they encounter sexual harassment woman complain to the National Society for Human Rights rather than the police.
Why? Because there are no sexual harassment laws on the books and therefore the police cannot and will not follow through with any complaint.
I think it would be very useful to study sexual harassment laws in other countries, which rein in inappropriate physical contact or unwelcome advances. (For example, a manager who phones a job applicant on the pretext of a job opportunity and engages in flirting conversations would be breaking the law in some countries.) It is because of such laws that women in those countries work with dignity and pride; they know the law is on their side in the event of inappropriate advances by colleagues and bosses.
