The Shoura Council is setting up a special committee to draft a law that will protect women from harassment in the workplace. Sources told Okaz/Saudi Gazette that the Council issued directives that the committee be formed from the Social Affairs, Family and Youth Committee. The committee will include lawyers and legal experts. The Council has stressed that this country needs such a law and underlined the importance of wearing decent national dress. The Shoura Council's step is part of a decision by the Council of Ministers to establish a higher national standing committee on women's affairs. The Shoura Council's move follows a study on women's labor and social issues by the Riyadh Economic Forum entitled “The legal environment and the requirements of economic development”. The study concludes that there were major problems related to women's work and their work environment including their lack of participation in developing regulations and policies affecting them. There are problems related to employment and promotions; wages and salaries for similar jobs in the public and private sectors; and lack of safety and protection in the workplace. Women are excluded from certain economic activities; there are also problems related to secrecy and the speeding up of their cases in the country's courts; and the inability of businesswomen to complete procedures at government and private sector offices. The study recommends that the proposed standing national committee on women's affairs be linked either to the Council of Ministers or the Supreme Economic Council, and that it have an independent budget. The committee will be tasked with monitoring and following up any decisions taken to help women get work and develop their economic contribution. It will also conduct a jurisprudential (Fiqh) study to determine the scope of women's participation in the workplace, according to the Shariah. __
