Saudi Arabia seeks to criminalise sexual harassment

Saudi Arabia's Shura Council, which advises the cabinet, approved a draft law which would introduce a prison term of up to five years and a penalty of 300,000 riyals for sexual harassment, weeks before the decades-long ban on women driving is lifted. [Courtesy]

Saudi Arabia is preparing to outlaw sexual harassment, officials said Tuesday, less than a month before the conservative kingdom lifts its decades-long ban on women driving.

The kingdom's Shura Council, which advises the cabinet, approved a draft law on Monday which would introduce a prison term of up to five years and a penalty of 300,000 riyals ($80,000).