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A new fatwa has banned Saudi women from working as cashiers

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Although only about 15% of Saudi women work outside the home, a new fatwa issued two days ago by top Saudi Arabia clerics has now banned women from employment as cashiers, reports Culture Clash Daily.

Women in the strict Islamic nation are banned from working in places where both men and women intermingle and the government has decreed that women should take on ‘less distinguished’ positions.

The Kingdom has identified work appropriate for women that includes being employed as receptionists, governesses, beauticians and hospitality workers.

Over the past 10 years King Abdullah has resisted conservative pressure and opened many doors for women into the workforce. In 2009 the King appointed Mrs Norah Al-Faiz as the Deputy Minister for Education, the first woman to be chosen for such a position.

The fatwa states: “It is not permitted for a Muslim woman to work in a place where they intermingle with men. A woman should stay away from places where men gather. She should search for employment that does not expose her to temptation nor make her a source of temptation.”

Wow, this is real state-sponsored misogyny. I thought it couldn’t get much worse for Saudi women, but I guess it just did.

If you want to read a Saudi woman’s take on things in the kingdom, this blog is worth a read.

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