*RIYADH – Saudi women have mounted a rare protest against the abaya,posting pictures on social media wearing the obligatory body-shrouding robeinside out.*
The conservative petro-state has some of the world’s toughest restrictionson women, who are required to wear the typically all-black garment inpublic.
Powerful Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in March said wearing the robewas not mandatory in Islam, but in practice, nothing changed and no formaledict to that effect was issued.
Using the hashtag “inside-out abaya”, dozens of women have posted picturesof flipped robes in a rare protest against the strict dress code.
“Because #Saudi feminists are endlessly creative, they’ve come up with newform of protest,” activist Nora Abdulkarim tweeted this week.
“They are posting pictures of (themselves) wearing their abayas inside-outin public as a silent objection to being pressured to wear it.”
Another woman on Twitter said the online campaign, which appears to begaining traction after it surfaced this week, was an act of “civil protest”.
In an interview to CBS Television in March, the crown prince said: “Thelaws are very clear and stipulated in the laws of Sharia: that women weardecent, respectful clothing, like men.”
But, he added, this “does not particularly specify a black abaya. (It) isentirely left for women to decide what type of decent and respectful attireto wear.”
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After his comment, prominent Muslim cleric Sheikh Ahmed bin Qassimal-Ghamdi added a new wrinkle to the debate when he dismissed the long-heldview that black was the only colour for abayas permissible in Islam.
Prince Mohammed, currently facing global criticism over the murder ofcritic Jamal Khashoggi, has spearheaded a liberalisation drive in theconservative kingdom.
In June, women celebrated taking the wheel for the first time in decades asthe kingdom overturned the world’s only ban on female motorists.
The kingdom has also allowed women to enter sports stadiums, previously amale-only arena, and is pushing for greater participation of women in theworkforce as it seeks to diversify its oil-dependent economy.
But in tandem with the reforms, the kingdom has seen a wave of arrests ofwomen activists in recent months as it steps up a crack down on dissent.
The country also faces criticism over its male guardianship system, whichallows men to exercise arbitrary authority to make decisions on behalf oftheir female relatives. – APP/AFP
