Saudi shuts male-staffed lingerie shops

Riyadh: The labour ministry has ordered the closure of around 100 lingerie shops in the Saudi capital for having men on their sales staff, according to a newspaper report.

Al Eqtisadiah quoted a ministry official as saying all shops which violate a decree on the “feminisation and nationalisation of jobs” would be shut down. The measure aims to “provide a safe environment for working women,” he said.

At the start of the year the ministry banned male assistants from working at lingerie shops and demanded women-only sales assistants at cosmetics outlets.

King Abdullah Bin Abdul Aziz issued a decree in June 2011 limiting work for women at lingerie shops to Saudi nationals only in a bid to reduce high female unemployment in the conservative kingdom.

Unemployment among women in the state is estimated at 30 per cent.