05 December 2013

Can Saudi women join the 'morality' police?

.... Last month saw a confrontation between the religious police and Princess Nora University in Riyadh which is the world's largest women-only university with around 56,000 students and staff.

The religious police – officially known as the Commission of the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice and locally know as the Haia – tried to enter the campus but were turned back by the university's security. The Haia had apparently received reports of men sneaking into the campus and of women running in a marathon (female sport is something they disapprove of). [www.al-bab.com] Read more