Saudi Gazette report

SAUDI security officers caught criminals who had dressed up as women several times in the past. Some of them were involved in terrorist activities while others were wanted for child abduction or robbery.

There have been loud calls to employ women as security officers at various checkpoints in order to crack down on criminals who try to pose as women, thinking they can get away. Having female security officers have become a must because the decision to permit women to drive will take effect by the end of June.

Saudi women can now join the military in security and non-combat roles. They can work in the army in key cities including the capital Riyadh and the holy cities of Makkah and Madinah if they meet 12 criteria, officials at the General Directorate of Public Security have announced.

The General Directorate of Passports said in early February that 107,000 women had applied for 140 jobs advertised for female officers to work at airports and border crossings.

Female security officers can help prevent criminals from hiding behind women’s clothes to get away.

Dr. Ahmed Asiri, a criminologist, impersonating a person’s identity is a grave and punishable crime that can bring personal damage to the victim whose identity has been impersonated.

“Unfortunately, some men abuse our good social values and traditions such as the respect of privacy. Many men have been caught donning women’s clothes trying to sneak into wedding halls. We need female security guards to stand guard at the doors of the halls and double-check the identity of all invitees,” he told Al-Riyadh newspaper.

Most wedding halls do not permit female invitees to bring their smart phones inside the halls and also to bring children to such events. This shows that the majority of people are not aware of the fact that they need female security guards to double-check every woman who enters a wedding hall.

Impersonating a woman's identity is not very common in the Kingdom but it is on the increase. Some men who are involved in serious crimes that threaten public security tend to move around dressed like women to escape arrest.

Authorities have also arrested men in women’s clothes for harassing women.

Asiri agreed that female security officers should be appointed before the decision permitting women to drive takes effect. The Traffic Department should hire female officers to stand at checkpoints and search any female drivers who might appear suspicious.

Col. Talal Al-Saydlani, a security adviser, said criminals tend to take advantage of the conservative culture of Saudi society to get away with murder. "Authorities should think seriously about training and appointing female security officers at all border entry points. Such a step will help the authorities arrest criminals easily," he said.

Normally women are given special treatment and are unlikely to be frisked at checkpoints, but this approach should be reconsidered and women should be searched just like men if they arouse suspicion.

Donning an abaya or hijab does not mean that women should be exempted from body searches, said a criminologist.

“It seems that we have overlooked the fact that women also can be terrorists,” Professor Yousuf Al-Rameeh told Al-Riyadh in a previous statement.

He said women should be frisked and searched by female security officers or by a detector device. Because the Kingdom is a prime target for terrorists, women should not be treated differently when it comes to national security, he added.

Criminologist Midwah Al-Midwah believes that frisking women will not be degrading to them in any way if proper precautions are taken.

He also called for female security officers to be appointed at all checkpoints and said this will also contribute to reducing unemployment among women.

“Both men and women can commit crimes. Terrorists today do not carry daggers and heavy weapons, and this is not a conventional war. Women, in fact, can commit sophisticated crimes better than men,” he said.

In his comments on a previous occasion, Sheikh Ahmad Al-Hashim, director of the Ministry of Islamic Affairs' branch in Al-Ahsa, said women should be treated like men if it is proven that they were involved in crimes, and that means they should be searched and punished according to the law.

“Women should be frisked and searched at checkpoints and if essential even male security guards can carry this out because national security comes first. If a woman does not respect herself and becomes a tool in the hands of terrorists, she should be subjected to frisking and searching,” he said.

Khalid Al-Haboot, a lawyer, said usually a judge would consider the reasons and motives that made a criminal disguise himself as a woman before issuing any sentence. The punishment is discretionary and left for the judge to decide, based on the gravity of the crime.

Al-Haboot called upon the authorities to draft a law to punish impersonation crimes, adding that impersonation can take different forms. A woman can steal the identity of another woman; a person can steal the electronic identity of another and use it online.