The campaign, launched earlier this month, has been started by Fatima Qaroob and is titled “Enough Embarrassment.” Qaroob is calling on Saudi men and women to stand together and object to male staff at lingerie stores.

“I never had the opportunity to buy my own lingerie in the Kingdom until recently. And when I did, I was surprised to see a man helping customers. While I stood there wondering, the salesman asked me intimate questions about my size and preferred colors. I felt shy and embarrassed when I shouldn’t have been because it was a normal thing and the guy was only doing his job,” she said.

“When I reached the cashier, he started holding my items individually and raising them up. I felt uncomfortable and that’s when I thought of starting a campaign to change this,” she added.

In 2005, the Labor Ministry requested lingerie shops to replace salesmen with saleswomen giving them a two-year deadline. Five years on, most lingerie shops still employ men. So far over 6,500 people have supported the campaign. “The number of people who share my concerns and are not comfortable with men selling women’s lingerie has surprised me,” said Qaroob. “I started taking things to the next step by arranging meetings with the owners of lingerie shops.”

Commenting on the previous campaign, launched by Reem Asaad in February, Qaroob said it was a failure and unlike her own. “Asaad’s campaign called for a boycott of shops which backfired on her because the owners of the shops were not happy with it. I’m not calling for a boycott, I’m calling for an agreement,” she said.

“I didn’t know about Asaad’s campaign until the media asked me about it. I then searched about it and found that she launched it a long time ago and since then nothing has changed it. This shows that it was not successful,” she added.

Moneera Zahrani, a 42-year-old stay-at-home mother, said most countries employ only women at lingerie shops. “Our country is an Islamic country and we should take the initiative in matters such as this. I’m surprised at how they’ve gone against women cashiers but are okay with women buying underwear from salesmen,” she said.

“Our society raises girls as modest, but this small thing scars our shyness and leads us to speak about our private issues out loud,” she added.

Saudi men also feel uncomfortable with their wives and sisters talking to salesmen about their underwear. “I would never let my wife go and buy lingerie without me going with her because I’ve heard salesmen always ask private questions and give their opinion when they should only work as cashiers and remain silent,” said Mostafa Hammad, a 47-year-old real-estate agent.

“I’m surprised how the authorities are standing against women working as cashiers but they are okay with women buying lingerie from men. It is hypocritical,” he added.