Video of workers allegedly harassing girls sparks outrage in Saudi Arabia

Footage capturing amusement park workers inappropriately dealing with children in the Saudi city of Taif sparked outrage on the kingdom's Twitter over the weekend.

In the video, a few girls are seen entering a room with two workers, who then lock its door. A young girl is then seen knocking on the door several times, but the men keep forcefully shutting her out. 

When she persists, one of them chases her out of the area and that's when the locked up children manage to escape.

Thousands have since shared the footage accusing the workers of sexually harassing the children and demanding that an investigation is launched into the incident.

Amid the intense social media backlash, managers at "Billy Beez", the amusement park where the incident took place, issued a statement on the matter.

In it, they confirmed that the footage was captured at their Taif branch on July 4 and "revealed bizarre and unprofessional behavior" on part of their employees.

The company stated that the two workers involved in the incident were identified and have since been fired, adding that the matter was reported to the police, who took appropriate measures in the case. 

The park's management team also claimed that they only hire female workers to deal with children at their facilities.

"There's nothing called 'they've been fired.' There's a new anti-sexual harassment law, which must be applied to these men. If they're expats, this doesn't exempt them from being held accountable." 

"What happened in that room? Why aren't cameras in there? Is ending their contracts enough in this case?"

"Where were the female employees you're talking about? The two little girls entered the room with these male workers and then the older one kept knocking on the door until they could escape. The men were then seen chasing after the girls, trying to catch them. This isn't a safe environment for our children. I saw no female employee or any other adult trying to stop this. Your apology isn't acceptable." 

Even though cases of child sexual harassment are prevalent across the Arab world, they often go unreported due to social norms that shame victims and their families. 

This probably explains why the majority of child abuse victims in the region do not get the medical or psychiatric help they so desperately need.

In a statement he made about the issue, Dr. Hussain Al Shamarani highlighted and explained that some victims of child abuse are also punished by parents or family members if they do speak out about being assaulted.

"The consequences of both punishing the victim or remaining silent about an assault are detrimental to children who suffer from an incident of sexual abuse. Victims of such assaults need medical assistance to get through it and must be seen by doctors who'll assess their cases and provide them with the care and support they need," he stressed.