RIYADH: As part of a move to give women a wider role in the organization, the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice (Haia) has decided to create a Female Research Chair. The move ends the male monopoly in the research sector.

The chair announced the opening of research scholarships entitled “The Hesab for women in the light of Shariah Law and the updates of the era,” which targets researchers from inside and outside the country. The funding for the research will be granted by the Women's Research Chair and the General Secretariat for research chairs at the University of Hail.

The researchers who will apply for the grant will likely face some interaction with problematic issues and debates which have recently emerged between the members of Haia and society. Among the cases was one which was known as the 'Al-Nakheel' case and the case of the assault of one of the members of the Haia, which entailed moving the member to hospital in 2012. There was also another incident which involved a girl who helped a man to flee from the Haia.

The discussion of all of these debates is expected to facilitate the entrance of women into Hesba and enable them to address and handle their own files. The research scholarship is aimed at enabling women to join the Hesba in various sectors and locations.