Saudi Arabia, a country which inexplicably has a seat on the United Nations Human Rights Council, has arrested a woman who tweeted a picture of herself without a hijab or abaya. The woman, who took the picture in public, outside her home, has been charged with violating the country's morality laws. In Saudi Arabia, women cannot go out in public without some sort of head covering.
A Saudi woman went out yesterday without an Abaya or a hijab in Riyadh Saudi Arabia and many Saudis are now demanding her execution. pic.twitter.com/gPMOz5bRAr
— Anon #FreeMalak (@dontcarebut) November 29, 2016
The woman, identified as Malak al-Shehri, has since deleted her Twitter account. She had received numerous death threats for her picture, and people called for her body to be fed to dogs for disobeying Islam.
Shehri, whose first name means angel, soon received hateful messages, including many with the hashtag “we demand the imprisonment of the rebel Malak al-Shehri.”
One account tweeted “we want blood.” Other users wrote, “Kill her and throw her corpse to the dogs” and “The least punishment for her is beheading her.”
In Saudi Arabia, women's rights lag far behind the rest of the world. Women voted in December for the first time ever, and they are still not allowed to drive a car.