MAKKAH: Cases of sexual harassment usually involve men as the perpetrators and women as the victims. The tables are, however, turning, as men report increasing incidence of women harassing them, usually in the workplace.
Muhammad Naif, a young Saudi who works at a store, said a woman entered his shop and asked for his number before leaving. “I gave her the shop’s card, which had a landline number on it. She then asked me to write my name on the back, which I did. She then left,” said Naif, adding that the woman began ringing him at work everyday.
“She would ask to talk to me saying she had something urgent and important to say. She kept asking me for my mobile phone number, but I politely declined. She would ring me everyday for five days in a row,” he said.
“On the fifth day, she called and asked me to come out of the shop because she was waiting for me outside. I refused. She asked if I was afraid and I said yes. After that, she began to come in front of the shop and stood there, looking at me. I did not pay her any attention. I was not quite sure what she wanted. Maybe she wanted to play around and I was not ready for that,” he added.
Saad Hamza, a call center employee at a private establishment, said it is regretful that there is a steady rise in the number of women harassing men. “One day, a woman customer called and asked for a certain service. I told her that this service could be done through the automatic telephone system. She quickly answered, ‘What if I gave you a kiss?’ I was taken aback,” he said.
“I told her that I wasn’t interested and advised her to fear God. Another woman called and, while I was helping her, she began singing. I told her I was still on the line so that she would stop singing. She said she knew and asked for my mobile number. I told her that we do not give our private numbers to customers. She then read out her number and said she would be waiting for my call,” he added.
Khaled Hussain, a human resource employee at a private company, has experienced his fair share of sexual harassment. He says that women often contact him looking for jobs, even though there is a special department that deals with women applicants.
“One day, a lady called me on my mobile. It was 12.30 a.m. I wondered how she got hold of my number and then she told me she wanted to apply for a job. I told her to call in the morning,” he said. “Exactly at 9 a.m. the next day she called me on my mobile phone and asked about vacant jobs. Then, all of a sudden she said, ‘I’m in bed right now.’ I told her that we would call her when we found a suitable job for her. She called again that day at 10.30 p.m. and I had no choice but to switch off my phone,” he added.
“She called the next day at 2 p.m. and started to talk about how attractive I was and how lucky my wife was. I ended the conversation and stopped answering her calls. She waited for several days and called me again to tell me she was well connected and offered to provide me with any type of assistance I needed from government departments. She asked me to send her my photo and promised to send hers. She then spoke words that I cannot repeat. I switched off the phone and changed the SIM,” he added.
Dr. Tarik Albar does not believe that women harassing men has become a phenomenon in Saudi society. “These are isolated incidents involving women suffering from mental problems. There are some hysterical women who love being ostentatious. They sometimes use a lot of makeup to draw attention to themselves, but deep down they have no intention of harassing men,” he said.
Albar warned that some women behave like this to satisfy their sense of femininity and quench their desire to be wanted, but would stop at a certain point and not cross certain boundaries. “These types of women are usually unpredictable. They may respond and all of a sudden change their minds,” he added.
Albar talked about women with “psychopathic personalities” who want to break all social and religious barriers, and do anything they can to subjugate men who refuse to succumb to their temptations.
He also spoke of women with “extrovert personalities” who “flirt with men but, at the same time, do not go to extremes.” “Women with excessive symptoms of extroversion should be treated at specialized hospitals,” he added.
Albar asked men who are harassed at work to conduct themselves in a gentlemanly fashion. He asked them not to give their harassers advice as this may lead to unnecessary problems. “Be careful and get yourself out of the situation gently,” he advised.
Sheikh Ahmed bin Jasim Al-Ghamdi, chairman of the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice in Makkah, said his organization has received a few cases of men complaining of being harassed by women at their workplaces. He said the commission investigates such cases and takes necessary action. “We use our available means to investigate these cases. When we have enough evidence, we take the necessary action against anyone who resort to harassment, regardless of gender,” he added.
