Hamas Police Target Male Hairdressers
March 2, 2011
"(Gaza) - Police operating under the Hamas administration in Gaza should stop threatening male hairdressers who cut women's hair and forcing them to sign pledges to stop working, Human Rights Watch said today. Such attempts to stop hairdressers from working on the basis that their work violates "Islamic morality" have no basis in law and are therefore arbitrary, Human Rights Watch said.
Hamas authorities should discipline officers involved in the harassment, compensate the hairdressers for lost work, and publicly instruct police to protect the hairdressers' businesses from threats by armed groups, Human Rights Watch said.
March 2, 2011
"(Gaza) - Police operating under the Hamas administration in Gaza should stop threatening male hairdressers who cut women's hair and forcing them to sign pledges to stop working, Human Rights Watch said today. Such attempts to stop hairdressers from working on the basis that their work violates "Islamic morality" have no basis in law and are therefore arbitrary, Human Rights Watch said.
Hamas authorities should discipline officers involved in the harassment, compensate the hairdressers for lost work, and publicly instruct police to protect the hairdressers' businesses from threats by armed groups, Human Rights Watch said.
"Police in Gaza should be protecting residents, not arbitrarily harassing people for absurd unwritten offenses like men cutting women's hair," said Sarah Leah Whitson, Middle East director at Human Rights Watch. "Instead of allowing police to flout the law, it should punish police who exceed their authority."
Hamas authorities have not enacted legislation banning men from working as hairdressers, but in March 2010 a statement on the police force's website announced the ban "following instructions from Interior Minister Fathi Hammad." Until now the ban had not been enforced......"
Hamas authorities have not enacted legislation banning men from working as hairdressers, but in March 2010 a statement on the police force's website announced the ban "following instructions from Interior Minister Fathi Hammad." Until now the ban had not been enforced......"
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