A Saudi writer with more than 97,000 Twitter followers has been promoting the molestation of women on under the hash-tag #harass_female_cashiers to pressure for Saudi women to stay at home in order to protect their chastity.
Abdullah Mohammad Al Dawood, author of several books, urged his
abundance of followers to harass women working in Saudi grocery
stores nationwide.
He is attempting to campaign against the employment of women in
mixed-gender environments and his move towards condoning assault
is regarded as a backlash against mild socioeconomic reforms in
the country.
Since 2011, women have begun taking up private-sector work in
increasing droves, following official moves encouraging their
influx into the sphere in order to boost the country’s
economy.
His tweet was apparently ‘justified’ by a sermon about a
7th-century Islamic warrior who did not want his wife to leave
home to visit the mosque, according to Gulf News.
The warrior, Al Zubair, hid in the dark and molested his wife
anonymously when she left the house. His terrified spouse never
set foot outside again, realizing that the external world was a
corrupt and evil place.
Some fellow conservatives have lauded his Twitter campaign as
part of a great fight against government efforts to ‘Westernize’
the nation.
One cleric, named Khalid Ebrahim Al Saqabi was fully supportive,
saying that government laws against sexual harassment were only
meant to encourage consensual debauchery, and accused the labor
minister of being “concerned with finding jobs for women
instead of men.”
Another stated that, “They had better ban mingling of the
sexes, not protect it.”
However, his comments have sparked a backlash across the
Twittersphere from people suggesting that he wouldn’t like his
own words if the women in question were his wife or sisters.
Advocate of female molestation, Abdullah Mohammad Al Dawood, has also written a self-help book. Who would seek his advice, I have to wonder.
— Rimmel Mohydin (@Rimmel_Mohydin) May 29, 2013
Call for #SaudiArabia to Castrate: Abdullah Mohammad Al Dawood, danger to #Saudi women by #harass_female_cashierstiny.cc/3gpuxw
— Susie Of Arabia (@SusieOfArabia) May 29, 2013
The doors of Jahanam are wide open and ready for you Abdullah Mohammad Al Dawood #harass_female_cashiers
— ummu (@ummutaj) May 29, 2013