Tipsheet

Saudi Arabia Detains Woman for Wearing a Miniskirt

Saudi Arabian police have detained a woman from a viral video who was wearing a miniskirt and a crop top while walking around outside in the city of Ushayqir. The street was otherwise deserted. 

A clip of the video is in the tweet below. The tweet, from women's rights activist Fatima al-Issa, translates to "If she were Western, they would have praised her waist and her enchanting eyes, but because she's Saudi they call for her to be tried!"

The woman in the video has not been identified, but she's being called "Khulood" online. The country's religious police said that her attire is "offensive" and promised to investigate the matter. In Saudi Arabia, women are supposed to wear an abaya, which is a loose-fitting, cloaklike garment, over their clothes, and their hair should be covered in public. These laws do not apply to foreign women, which is why female members of President Donald Trump's delegation to the country did not cover their heads during their visit.

First things first: that outfit is in no way offensive for walking around a city on a hot summer day. It wouldn't be out of place in any American shopping mall. 

Second: it's absolutely abhorrent that a woman could be detained by the police for walking around outside. She wasn't in a religious site or in some other area like a workplace where one could reasonably expect a dress code prohibiting crop tops. She was outside. 

Third, there's this gem from Linda Sarsour:

It's sad that women around the world are still subject to being detained by the police for wearing clothes the government doesn't approve of. (Kind of puts the dust-up over sleveless dresses in Congress in context, eh?) Women in Saudi Arabia also aren't permitted to drive cars, along with other basic human rights.