A 1-minute 34-second video showing Italian PM Giorgia Meloni greeting Saudi Arabia crown prince Mohammed Bin Salman and other government officials during a visit to the Middle Eastern country is doing the rounds of social media, being fervently shared by popular right-wing nationalist accounts, both Indian and global.
The reason: The 48-year-old far-right leader is being hailed for her “extraordinary stand for women’s rights” with her purported historic refusal to don the headscarf (hijab) or full-body robe (abaya), modest clothing typically associated with women in the Islamic country and alleged to be a legal requirement.
“Italian PM Giorgia Meloni visited Saudi Arabia, did not wear a headscarf, and didn’t change her attire…This would have been unthinkable even 10 years ago. Absolutely monumental shift,” read an X post, which has clocked 6.2 million views so far.
Dress Code: What Does Saudi Law Say?
Did the Italian PM flout the dress code mandated for women in the Arab country, where she was on an official visit from January 25-27? Several users pointed out in the comments below the viral posts that wearing a headscarf or abaya has not been mandatory in Saudi Arabia since 2018 with clothing choices reportedly left to women as long as they align with cultural norms.
“Saudi women do not have to wear the traditional abaya gown and hijab headscarf, Riyadh’s powerful crown prince has claimed ahead of a three-week US charm offensive. Mohammed bin Salman said women in Saudi Arabia do not have to wear the traditional abaya gown and hijab headscarf during an interview with US broadcaster CBS,” read a New Arab report, dated March 20, 2018.
According to a similar DW report published on March 19, 2018, “The laws are very clear and stipulated in the laws of Shariah (Islamic law): that women wear decent, respectful clothing, like men,” Prince Mohammed reportedly said in the interview, adding, “This, however, does not particularly specify a black abaya or a black head cover. The decision is entirely left for women to decide what type of decent and respectful attire she chooses to wear.”
“Although Prince Mohammed’s statement appears to signal another opening for women’s rights in the conservative kingdom, the prince’s emphasis on “decent and respectful attire” means women will still not likely be allowed to wear whatever they would like to,” further stated the report.
We then looked up CBS’s report on the interview of Prince Mohammed with journalist Norah O’ Donnell, dated March 19, 2018. We saw that the prince’s statement was in a detailed response to O’Donnell’s question on whether women are equal to men in the kingdom and how Saudi Arabia was like before 1979.
Saudi’s Public Decency Law
The new perspectives were codified in Saudi Arabia’s public decency laws, issued in September 2019, which regulates public behaviour and dress in accordance with the country’s culture, values, and traditions.
“Saudi Arabia has given the go-ahead to implement new regulations related to public decency as the country opens up to foreign tourists. Interior Minister Prince Abdul Aziz bin Saud bin Naif on Friday approved the rules, which identify 19 offenses as punishable…Men and women are required to dress modestly, refrain from public displays of affection, and avoid using profane language or gestures. Women are required to cover shoulders and knees in public, but they are free to choose a modest choice of clothing,” read an Arab News report, dated September 28, 2019. A similar The Week report reiterates that the new public decency law requires “modest” dress for both sexes but only specifies “loose clothing” that covers both elbows and ankles, while adding that the vast majority of Saudi women continue to wear the abaya and a head covering.
We looked up the Public Decency Regulations, where under Article 4, it states, “No person shall appear in a public place wearing indecent clothing or clothing which bear images, shapes, signs, or phrases that violate public decency”. There is no article under the regulations that specified what constituted indecent clothing.
Foreign Female Tourists Not Obligated To Wear Headscarves
A western travel blogger, writing about her experiences in Saudi Arabia last year, stated that she did not wear an abaya, niqab or hijab while in the country, adding that most residents still follow the previous rules and wear an abaya and head scarf, a niqab or, rarely, a full burka.
The tourist’s experiences are in line with this New Arab report, dated September 27, 2019, stating that foreign women were allowed to shun the kingdom’s strict dress code worn by local women. “Female tourists visiting the ultra-conservative kingdom will be allowed to go without wearing the body-shrouding abaya robe that is still mandatory public wear for Saudi women, tourism chief Ahmed al-Khateeb reportedly said.”
According to the official tourism website and app for Saudi Arabia, Visit Saudi, it is not mandatory to wear an abaya or hijab [head covering], however, you should dress modestly.
On what to wear in Saudi Arabia, the official website for tourist visas to Saudi Arabia stated, “Foreign women are no longer obliged to wear the abaya, or veil, since September 2019”. Under a section titled, “Dress code for women travelling alone in Saudi Arabia”, the website stated, “There is no specific dress that is imposed on women travelling to this destination. Foreign women are still required to wear decent clothing, i.e. long, loose-fitting clothes that cover their legs and arms perfectly. However, they are not obliged to wear the traditional dresses imposed on Saudi women. Similarly, they are not obliged to wear the veil.”
There is also a specific section on the same website, headlined, “Wearing the hijab in Saudi Arabia: no obligation for foreign women”. “Several photos taken of female politicians visiting Saudi Arabia show them without any form of veil. However, they are not punished for deviating from this customary dress code in the country. Tourists are therefore not obliged to wear it when they visit the country,” read the write-up.
Not The First Female Politician To Shun Headscarf
Meloni is not the first female politician to shun the headscarf while on an official visit to Saudi Arabia, following the practice of several other foreign female leaders who have visited the Arab nation over the past decade, including former German Chancellor Angela Merkel (2017), USA’s then secretary of state Hillary Clinton (2012), and former British Prime Minister Theresa May (2017). Their decision to go without the headscarves garnered significant media attention then, being viewed as political statements against Saudi’s conservative dress code.
Last year, Union minority affairs minister, Smriti Z Irani, too, did not don a headscarf when leading a historic non-Muslim Indian delegation to Medina, one of the holiest cities in Islam in Saudi Arabia.
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