Women and Harassment in the Workplace – A Study on Female Working in Commercial Centers in Makkah Region

Abstract

Women are considered one of the pillars of development in Saudi society, and they have made great strides in the fields of education and work and assumed the highest positions, and the state focused on empowering women, and even made it one of the most important goals of Vision 2030, as it opened new areas for women’s work in all sectors, including commercial centers, and even emphasized the issue of Saudization The feminization of some sectors, including stores that sell women's necessities, and consequently, many job opportunities were available in this field. Saudi women have faced many obstacles, including the lack of acceptance by some groups of society for this work as a mixed work, as well as the harassment that women have faced, including the problem of harassment of all kinds. This descriptive study aims to study the harassment faced by Saudi working women in commercial centers, as it was applied to a sample of 150 workers in six commercial centers in the cities of Makkah and Jeddah. The questions revolved around the forms, causes and effects of harassment against women workers. The results were presented, discussed, and some recommendations were drawn to improve the work environment for women in this sector.