“You look like a drug addict,” the judge said to him.

“Your honor, I am like beer that has a bad reputation, but there is no alcohol in me,” the man replied.

“Even your examples demonstrate that you are a drug addict, but unfortunately I do not have sufficient evidence to convict you,” the judge fired back.

This story, which was told to me by a friend, was further proof of the legal rule that a judge only rules by the evidence he has, not by what he feels or thinks.

However, it seems the Ministry of Labor is against this type of thinking. It does not recognize a contracting company owned by a woman and considers this a form of subletting.

The Ministry of Commerce and Industry does not share the attitude of the Labor Ministry, as it readily grants women licenses to open their own contracting companies.

The municipalities give women the required permits for this kind of activity, while the chambers of commerce ask the businesswomen to pay their subscriptions.

Ironically, the Ministry of Labor recognizes barbershops for men that are owned by women.

However, a woman needs the approval of seven men to obtain a license to open a barbershop, which she can never enter.

These include two men to acknowledge her, two men to guarantee her, the chief of the district in which she lives, her legal representative and her guardian.

But it is not possible for a woman to own a contracting company for décor, as she will definitely be seen as illegally taking the credit from the real owners, who may be her husband or one of her relatives.

On the other hand, special shops for women in markets are, according to recent statements from the undersecretary of the Ministry of Labor, rejected both by society and the merchants.

It is funny that society, which does not object to women owning barbershops, will not accept special shops for women in the markets.

It is also beyond comprehension that while we always talk much about unemployment among women (28.5 percent), they have billions of riyals frozen in the banks.

These are all empty circles, which can only be corrected by decisive measures.

It is funny that society, which does not object to women owning barbershops, will not accept special shops for women in the markets.