JEDDAH: Many Saudi women have welcomed the searching of their bags at the country’s malls, saying it is necessary because terrorists are threatening the country’s safety.

Initially, when the government introduced the measures at malls, women complained that their privacy was being invaded, a local publication reported recently.

Fatimah Al-Sadoon, a shopper, said: “At first the inspections scared me but over time I realized that it was the correct approach, and now I feel safe and secure while shopping with my children.”

Huda, another shopper, said although she was aware that the inspections were for security reasons, she wanted the government to find other ways to check bags. She said the measures invade her privacy.

Naif Al-Shammari, head of security at a well-known commercial center in Riyadh, said the searches are done in coordination with Riyadh police. “We were asked to search and inspect the bags and purses of all shoppers, men and women alike, as a preventive security measure,” he said.

“We appointed trained women employees to check the contents of bags and children’s prams. The personal physical search of the body is done with sensitive electronic devices which detect metals immediately.”

He said there were some surprises during searches. “Once we found a gun in a woman’s purse but it turned out to be a licensed firearm. Another time we caught a man disguised in a woman’s abaya, whom we arrested immediately.”

“Then there was the time we had to eject a woman from a mall because she refused to be searched and threatened to call her husband. The security employees were suspicious of her and did not allow her to enter for safety reasons.”

A woman security official said most women do not mind having their bags searched, while some insist that men security officials are present while this happens. Some female teenagers refuse to be searched, claiming they do not have prohibited substances in their possession.

“Often I’ve found scissors and white weapons in their bags. They justified this by saying that they feared being attacked by taxi drivers, and this made them feel more safe. Some women said that their children placed these weapons in their bags,” said the inspector.

Another female inspector, Meaad, suggested having two women security employees at the gate of each commercial center to ease the pressure on one woman working during a shift. “The bags of female shoppers are stuffed with so many items it is difficult to search the contents with one quick look,” she said.