SECURITY has been stepped up at a water park following an incident involving two women, which has prompted calls for a zero-tolerance approach to harassment.
The decision has been taken after video of two female visitors being harassed by a group of men last Friday went viral.
A senior manager of Lost Paradise of Dilmun (LPOD), where the incident took place, added that CCTV footage had been handed over to police so action could be taken against those responsible.
“The CCTV footage of the incident has been handed over to the police and the people are being traced,” he told the GDN.
“Meanwhile, we have increased the number of security guards at the park – mainly near the pool and the stairway, where the crowd is usually heavy.
“We are keen to ensure that our visitors have a pleasant experience at the park.”
He added the women involved did not file a complaint with water park management and returned the next day.
“We cannot take action against almost 800 people in the pool, especially when the women involved did not make any complaint,” he said.
“They came to the park the next day as well and were happy.”
Video of the incident, in which two women are surrounded by a group of men in a pool and groped, has gone viral since it emerged on Monday.
It has also sparked an intense online debate about how people should act in public.
Many people condemn the men’s behaviour in the video, but some accuse the women of inciting the incident – provoking angry exchanges on social media platforms.
Founder of the Bahrain-based women’s empowerment group Afkarech (Your Thoughts), Mariam Alammadi, urged Bahraini authorities to adopt a zero-tolerance approach to sexual harassment.
“It was clear from the short video that these young ladies were being harassed,” she said.
“The young women looked uncomfortable and distressed.
“There should be a zero-tolerance policy on sexual harassment of any kind.
“Our message to the women of Bahrain is nobody deserves this treatment and nobody should tolerate it.”
Meanwhile, a representative of Bahrain-based Women’s Crisis Care International (WCCI) stressed the importance of holding perpetrators of sexual harassment to account.
“It can be dangerous when we begin to blame victims for unwanted sexual advances,” she said, describing the incident as “disturbing” and “deeply saddening”.
“It is crucial these young men are held accountable for their behaviour.”
An Arabic hashtag on Twitter dedicated to the incident was the highest trending in Bahrain on Tuesday.
However, activist and Dar Al Aman Shelter for Women head Dr Huda Al Mahmood said actions of the men in the video – and comments criticising the women involved – indicated there was still a long way to go to achieve gender equality.
“This exposes the cultural lag that exists in our society,” she said.
“There is huge difference between being educated, well-dressed, eloquent and being civilised.
“Our brains and mentality must match our external, polished, advanced appearance.
“But this incident shows this (civilised behaviour) is lacking in the men we see in the video. It shows their primitive thinking.
“I respect women and I know their rights, but let’s be wary – the reality is that women’s rights are still not guaranteed in our culture.
“In the West, perhaps we can speak of (closing) the (gender equality) gap in terms of a decade, but in our part of the world it is a black hole.
“God knows how we could ever bridge it.”
Female Bahraini lawyer Fatima Al Hawaj took to Twitter to describe the actions of those in the video as punishable by law, since the women were physically touched, but she added harassment in itself was not a crime in Bahrain.
“When we were younger we swam in springs like Adhari,” she said.
“We were mature boys and girls, we never heard of such harassment.
“This confirms there is a decline of morality in society.
“In Bahraini law there is no such offence as harassment, there is a crime of indecent assault – which is touching the body of a woman or a man and is punishable by imprisonment.
“What happened (in the video) is a punishable act.”
raji@gdn.com.bh
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