The Arabic daily said female harassment is common in the malls and streets of the Kingdom.

Maha Al-Bassam, a 26-year-old woman, told Al-Youm that the problem is getting more and more widespread these days. “I have seen many girls harassing young men in shopping malls. Such outrageous behavior makes me very angry. The phenomenon is becoming very normal these days. It is not necessary to follow guys or chase them, there are many other indirect ways of getting their attention like wearing unusual abayas and full makeup or laughing loudly when talking on the mobile phone,” Maha said.

Reem Al-Saleh, a 28-year-old employee, talked about an incident she witnessed in one of Dammam’s malls.

She said, “I was at the cash counter waiting for my turn when I saw a girl in front of me getting into a chat with the cashier asking him about his hair style and laughing with him. At the end I noticed her dropping her card on the cashier’s desk. This is not the first time I witnessed such behavior coming from Saudi girls.”

Reem said she was shocked by the “repulsive” behavior of these girls and argued that such trends should be addressed immediately. Shaima, a 22-year-old university student, pointed out that modern technology has helped to make this problem more widespread.

“The way girls misuse technology plays an important role in aggravating the problem. Some features of mobile phones, like Bluetooth devices, help them to communicate within a range of 20 meters with other phones that has the same technology. For example, when I was in a restaurant with some friends I noticed the way they were using Bluetooth technology, using attractive names, to harass married men in the restaurant,” she said.

Lena, 24, said, “I know some girls get entangled with guys just to gain some advantages. Some girls demand prepaid phone cards after a certain period in the relationship. This is a very common trick girls use against guys and it works most of the time.”