Saudi police arrest Arab man who harassed female employees for months

Earlier this week, Saudi authorities in Riyadh arrested an Arab expat for harassing a Saudi female employee for months, Twasel news site reported. 

The arrest came after Riyadh's religious police and legal authorities investigated the man, who holds a top position in a local company. 

Speaking to the local news site, anonymous sources said the manager had threatened the employee he would fire her if she refused to go out with him. 

The defendant had also deprived the woman of several of her employment rights after she rejected his advances on numerous occasions. 

After his arrest, authorities discovered the manager had also been harassing several other female employees. 

The man is now set to face prosecution. 

"We await the announcement of the strict legal punishment set to be imposed on him." 

"This is only a tiny sample of what's really happening." 

"Unfortunately, corruption at administrative levels is widespread at the majority of institutions, regardless of the offender's nationality or race."

News of the man's arrest comes just days after the story of a Saudi woman who was harassed while applying for a job went viral on social media. 

Speaking to Al Ain Al Yaum, the woman said she had filed legal complaints against her abuser with three different government authorities, including Saudi Arabia's Ministry of Labor. 

When no action was taken, she eventually turned to newspapers and social media.

As soon as her story started to make the rounds online, it encouraged hundreds of Saudi women to share similar heartbreaking stories. 

Earlier last month, King Salman issued a royal decree calling upon the kingdom's interior minister to draft a law that criminalizes sexual harassment and enforces penalties on perpetrators. 

A copy of the decree, which circulated online at the time, read:

"Considering the dangers sexual harassment poses and its negative impact on the individual, the family, and society, along with its contradiction of Islamic principles, our customs, and traditions [...], the ministry shall prepare a draft law to tackle sexual harassment."

The decree also went on to note the "importance of passing a law that criminalizes it [sexual harassment] and outlines the necessary penalties that categorically prohibit such acts and deter anyone who feels tempted to commit them."

The latest move comes at a time when women in the conservative kingdom face high rates of sexual harassment. 

According to a 2014 study, nearly 80% of women aged between 18 - 48 said they have experienced sexual harassment in the country. 

The Institute for International Research, a Canadian institute specialized in research and field studies, found that Saudi Arabia witnessed an 11.4% increase in sexual harassment rates in 2016, compared to 2014.