It is not a subject about which people like to speak. Most decent Saudis find the idea that women and juveniles are sexually harassed here in the Kingdom to be distasteful, even hard to believe.
It will therefore come as a shock to many that in a single year almost 2,800 cases of grossly improper behavior or worse have been reported to the authorities. Given the natural reluctance, not to say fear of women and young people to come forward and report what has happened to them, it is likely that these official figures do not represent the full extent of the problem.
Indeed, if experience in other countries is any yardstick, it is generally only a minority of victims that comes forward. Thus the incidence of this sexual harassment here in Saudi Arabia is probably higher than the eight cases a day that result in official complaints.
Any temptation to believe that these crimes take place by and large among expatriates should be resisted. The official statistics released this week show that the majority of reported cases, some 60 percent, involve attacks on Saudi females and juvenile males. They range from verbal abuse to physical interference and rape.
It seems that the position of young people is becoming increasingly precarious. Anecdotal evidence suggests that there may be sophisticated networks of criminals who groom and compromise boys and girls, forcing them into the evils of prostitution. There are also cases where the victims have been assaulted by taxi drivers, in whose vehicles they have been traveling alone.
Riyadh, according to these official figures, had by far the largest number of harassment cases — some 650 in a 12-month period — with Jeddah having only 250. However even though some might argue that the capital, as the most populous and cosmopolitan city in the Kingdom, might expect to top this list of shame, it is important to understand that the statistics bear more careful analysis. They probably do not indicate for instance, if the higher number of reported harassment cases has not come about, because of a greater willingness among people living in Riyadh to go to the authorities with their complaint.
Statistically Yemenis appear to be the worst offenders, who are shown to have been involved in some 50 cases of female harassment and 40 crimes in which juvenile victims were lured into horrific events. Thereafter in descending order, Egyptians, Pakistanis, Bangladeshis and Syrians were convicted of these sex crimes.
It would of course be entirely wrong to react in a xenophobic way to these revelations. Though the number of these sexual harassment cases appears to be rising, even allowing for the many likely unreported cases, they are still the exception. The majority of Yemenis, Egyptians, Pakistanis and Bangladeshis live blameless and hardworking lives here in the Kingdom. They also undoubtedly feel deep shame and repulsion at the crimes of their fellow countrymen.
So what therefore is to be done about the dangers of sexual harassment facing women and young people? For sure the courts should hand out the severest sentences to all those convicted of these deplorable crimes.
But those at risk can do something themselves to ward off the risk of inappropriate behavior. At its simplest, woman and children should always travel with a chaperone. Sometimes however, this is not possible. In such circumstances, there is another means of protection available. Virtually everyone in the Kingdom now owns a cell phone. Setting up a speed-dial to relatives, friends or the police is a simple matter.
Communications technology offers even more than this and with it, a business opportunity for entrepreneurs. A single panic number, programmed to alert a central control room could trigger an immediate alert. With smart phones, locating the person who is in danger is a relatively straightforward.
However, perhaps the best protection against sexual harassment is education. This of course is particularly true of young people. Some schools already have “Stranger Danger” training, to help children spot risks and avoid becoming involved with potential predators. But this sort of awareness raising needs to be rolled out in schools as a matter of course. On top of this responsible parents have a duty to their young people and the females in their household, to try and avoid as far as possible any of them finding themselves in dangerous or compromising situations.
Unpleasant though this whole issue is, it will not go away if it is ignored. The answer is to confront sexual harassment stoutly, encouraging victims to come forward by recognizing that they are indeed victims, not somehow complicit in what has happened them. Once the sexual criminals see that they have every chance of being discovered and brought to justice for their crimes, they are likely to think twice about their loathsome behavior.
Editorial: Sexual predators on the prowl
