Saudi Arabia .. Harassment is not limited to men (video)
A member of the Saudi Human Rights Commission, Dr. Ghafoun Al-Yami, affirmed that the crime of harassment is "not considered a monopoly of men," listing the reasons for defaming the harasser in the name of the harasser.
Al-Yami said in an interview on the official Saudi “Al-Ikhbariya” channel, that according to Article 1 of the anti-harassment crime system, “any actions, signals or statements with a sexual connotation issued by a person towards any other person,” stressing that “the term here is general,” and that no Specifies one gender without the other, "whether the perpetrator or the victim".
He pointed out that "what applies to the man applies to the female in this case."
The local newspaper, "Ajl", quoted excerpts from the interview, where it said that Al-Yami confirmed that social media is covered by the tools through which harassment is carried out.
He also stressed that the texts of the penalties imposed on harassment "would protect the persons concerned with protection at the level of his physical (physical) or moral entity."
A few days ago, the Saudi newspaper, Sabq, published, under the title “defamation,” a court ruling convicting a citizen, whose full name was mentioned, of the crime of sexual harassment, pursuant to the recent legal amendment approved by the Council of Ministers in this regard.
This defamation ruling is the first of its kind, a year after the kingdom approved a new amendment to the anti-harassment system, which allowed judges to defame those convicted of harassment crimes.
In January 2021, the Saudi Council of Ministers added a new paragraph to Article 6 of the anti-harassment crime system, stating that a summary of the judgment may be published in local newspapers at the expense of the convict.
According to the newspaper, the Criminal Court in Madinah sentenced to eight months in prison and a fine of 5,000 riyals (about 1,300 US dollars) and the publication of the punishment issued against the offender “for harassing, verbalizing and harassing a woman.”
The verdict stipulated his conviction for "what was attributed to him of harassing a woman, by touching her from behind, uttering and harassing her, and punishing him for that with 8 months' imprisonment and a fine of 5000 riyals, and publishing the punishment in the Sabq electronic newspaper."
And the harassment law in Saudi Arabia states that "anyone who commits a crime of harassment shall be punished with imprisonment for a period not exceeding two years and a fine of not more than 100,000 riyals (about $30,000), or one of these two penalties."
Saudi Arabia announced the “law against harassment” in May 2018, by a royal decree issued by Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz, with the aim of “combating the crime of harassment and preventing its occurrence, applying the punishment to its perpetrators and protecting the victim.”
Member of the Human Rights Council: The penalty for defamation of the harasser includes both sexes and is not restricted to men, and these are the most prominent acts of harassment that require defamation# Program_120# News pic.twitter.com/9hjNdgfNOz
- News Channel (@alekhbariyatv) January 14, 2022
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