CONTROVERSY | Religious Police ensure compliance Saudi Arabia segregates the clerks with walls 160 feet high

They had already announced the authorities in Saudi Arabia in late January: shopping centers will have to build a wall of 160 cm to separate women from men clerks . He knew that was an imposition flying the name of virtue. "For the privacy of women [working in lingerie shops] is not violated," they said. All that remained was to know the details of this regulation imposed by the uncompromising eye that controls Saudi society and keeps his women in check: the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice (Haia), the house mutawas of the religious police. But this week the rules have come come to realize that separation of 160 cm high-qualify now and say it is not brick, but "fixed partition panels"- yes," so high that no one inside could be seen from outside, "says the circular issued by the Haia. It is taken for granted that "women must dress modestly" (as they do, in fact, on duty in the desert kingdom), so the regulation published in the newspaper 'Arab News' also affects it. Moreover, according to the new guidelines, no man can re-enter the 'stronghold' female department stores . That is, it ended lingerie gifts for their wives, which according to a Saudi woman says ELMUNDO.es is "not unusual". Sure, it would make little sense, as the guardians of Virtue, create a physical barrier that if after the clerks go and relate to their male colleagues when replenish stocks bras in the store or make a request at the office. So get in there is strictly prohibited if male. And to fewer opportunities to friction between the sexes, the authoritiesundertake to bring the lingerie section "as close as possible to the door of entry to trade. " Here are the mutawas to oversee compliance with the rule and submit a "periodic report" to his superiors. But as I said to ELMUNDO.es Hisa Hilal Saudi poet-one against which launched a fatwa-"is a stupid rule, so much so that the clerks can not speak to men, but clients are still going to buy." And this is not a trivial matter, because dependent on the rest of the business are men. Only since the end of 2011 the Government imposed a lingerie stores have women behind their desks, encouraged by activists who wanted to buy their pranks and fasteners not to mention sizes with the opposite sex. The only explanation is the Saudi journalist Eman Al Nafjan this regulation is that with him "the mutawas try to put every possible obstacle to not work. want us to do from home, the government will pay us if we stay in our homes" . But while the religious police hinders the incorporation of women into the workplace, the King and the Government, however, are determined to increase its small share (15%) with all the means at its disposal. In fact, this week has forced the closure of 18 stores in Riyadh lingerie for not being served by Saudi women , according to 'Arab News'. We'll see who wins.