SAUDI ARABIA

Only Women Work in Lingerie Shops

After decades of being served by men.

After years of uncomfortable moments for Saudi women being served by male salespeople in lingerie shops, a new law is allowing only women to work in the stores. Both men and women behind the initiative are hopeful it will end decades of awkwardness in the Islamic kingdom, where women have always had to buy their lingerie from male sales assistants. Female campaigners went so far as to boycott lingerie stores and launched a Facebook page pushing for the initiative. One woman told the BBC that she and any woman who could afford it would often shop abroad rather than go through the shameful process of telling a salesman her underwear size. Now more women are hoping to enter the workforce (traditionally, only educated elite women in the Islamic kingdom can pursue a career). The law could potentially create up to 40,000 jobs for less privileged Saudi women who never before had the opportunity to enter the workplace.