A Saudi writer has urged his Twitter followers to sexually molest women hired as cashiers in grocery stores, the Financial Times reported, saying it was the latest backlash from conservatives opposed to reforms in the Islamic kingdom.
Abdullah Mohamed al-Dawood, who writes self-help books including one called "The joy of life", has been using the hashtag harass_female_cashiers to press for Saudi women to be forced to stay at home to protect their chastity, the FT said.
Conservative cleric Khalid Ibrahim al-Saqabi endorsed Dawood's calls and said a law proposed by the government against sexual harassment in newly mixed workplaces was "only meant to encourage consensual debauchery", the FT report said.
"Why is the labour minister concerned with finding jobs for women instead of men?" the cleric was quoted as saying.
Scores of Dawood's more than 90,000 Twitter followers supported his campaign and condemned the planned anti-harassment law, which comes as employers respond to government financial incentives to hire more Saudi workers, and in particular more women, the FT said.
However, Dawood's hashtag drew scorn from others using the social media site.
One asked: "What kind of person urges the youth to commit debauchery?" Another urged Dawood to follow his own example and harass his wife and sisters.
"#harass_female_cashiers pls someone harass the guy who wrote thois (sic)," was another comment on Twitter.
Dawood's call to repress women workers highlights the challenges Saudi women face in gaining greater freedoms in one of the most restrictive countries when it comes to women’s rights - despite moves by its king, Abdullah bin Abdulaziz al Saud, to promote modest social change.
King Abdullah, who came to the throne in 2005 after effectively ruling as crown prince for a decade before that, has pushed for better education and employment prospects for women.
The king, who has the final say on policy, announced women would be able to vote and run for office in municipal elections in 2015, the only public vote in the country. And in February, he swore in Saudi's first female members of the Shura Council.
But his cautious reforms have at times riled powerful conservative clerics, and critics say much more needs to be done to advance the role of women in a society where they still need the consent of a male "guardian" to work, travel abroad or open a bank account.
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