RIYADH, 26 September 2004 — Adopting the simple camouflage of a pair of sports shoes, Sulaiman, a 24-year-old Saudi, regularly goes to a quiet street in Riyadh where he is sure to find young women. Here women, both Saudi and foreign, walk for exercise. Sport is what Sulaiman has in mind, not exercise.
The aim of Sulaiman’s visit is to make contact with girls who are exercising on the street. It is relatively easy for him to do that because there is no supervision by the authorities to stop young men harassing females, talking to them or even going to the extent of tugging on their abayas.
Manal Al-Qahtani, a Saudi female, is furious at the harassment she faces when she is walking on the stretch of street that has now become known locally as “Pregnant Walk.” “Most of them are teenagers and they use many ways to harass us,” she said.
Many of the young men insist that girls take their phone numbers offered to them on a scrap of paper. Some of these teenagers, she said, go too far by walking next to the targeted girl and pretending to casual observers that he is walking with his sister. They continue to walk next to her until she accepts his number and gets hers. If a girl refuses to accept the number, then they often curse at her.
“I thought more than once that I would never go to the ‘Pregnant Walk’ again to exercise,” Manal said.
Sometimes she takes her brother along and uses him as a protection. “I want local authorities to step in and put an end to the reckless behavior from these teenagers,” she said.
Faisal, a teenager, searches out the streets that are mostly used by girls to walk in, so there is a good chance of finding a female friend. He wants to give girls his unique cell phone number, which cost him SR4,500.
He says he wants girls to think of him as a “unique person.” He denies that he is harassing any girl. He simply walks to them and gently asks them if they can take his phone number. If they refused to take the number, he simply apologizes and walks away.
Interestingly, Faisal puts some of the blame on the girls themselves. “If the girl was walking and wearing decent clothes, then she would not be harassed by anyone. Boys are attracted to girls that are looking for harassment. I know it is wrong and it is against our society but I think both are responsible for this mess.”
“I avoid conservative girls, whether I am walking or in the market,” he added.
Hind Al-Duwaish said the problem would not exist if there were special clubs for women supported by the government. “There are clubs in the city, but they are few in number and the service is not what we expect.”
