Woman arrested in Saudi Arabia for wearing a miniskirt in public and filming it

Women in Saudi Arabia.
(Image credit: Jordan Pix/Getty Images)

A woman was arrested in Saudi Arabia after making a Snapchat video showing her walking through a historic fort while wearing a skirt and crop top, Saudi Arabian state television announced Tuesday.

The unidentified woman was detained in Riyadh, and the case has been referred to the general prosecutor, state media reported. Her attire violated the country's extremely conservative dress code, which has women, including foreigners, wearing abayas, which are long and loose robes; most also don a headscarf and veil. The footage of the woman walking through the village of Najd, a conservative area, went viral, with some criticizing her for explicitly violating the dress code, while others argued that it's time for Saudi Arabia to end clothing restrictions. When Saudi news agencies reported on the video, the woman's image was blurred so her legs and midriff were not visible.

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Catherine Garcia, The Week US

Catherine Garcia is night editor for TheWeek.com. Her writing and reporting has appeared in Entertainment Weekly and EW.com, The New York Times, The Book of Jezebel, and other publications. A Southern California native, Catherine is a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.