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A Starbucks in Saudi Arabia Bans Women After a ‘Gender Wall’ Collapses

The Gulf kingdom’s Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice cracked down and ordered the store’s management not to admit women.

An oppressive barrier between men and women has finally come down in Saudi Arabia.

As promising as this may sound, the reality is far bleaker, because the barrier in question is just an actual wooden "gender wall" commonly used to physically segregate Saudi men and women in public—and it's ended up costing some women their right to get coffee at Starbucks.

If there is one place on Earth where a Starbucks cafe does not look like all of the other ones, it's in Saudi Arabia, where it is strictly forbidden for women to interact with men who they are not related to, for risk of criminal charges of adultery and other severe punishments.

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READ: This British Grandad Could Be Flogged for Making Wine in Saudi Arabia

As a result, most public places have separate entrances for men and women, and these types of restrictions are especially enforced in restaurants, where women must remove their (mandatory) veil in order to eat. Even gender-equality-loving coffee giant Starbucks has to play by the rules in Saudi Arabia.

So after stampeding customers reportedly broke down a gender wall in a Riyadh Starbucks, the country's religious police stepped in and imposed an even more discriminatory measure to assure no gender mixing: banning women altogether.

According to Emirates 24/7, the Gulf Kingdom's Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice (CPVPV), ordered the store's management "not to admit women," and to instead send chauffeurs to pick up their orders.

Women arriving at the Starbucks were reportedly met with a signs saying, "On order by the Commission… please no women allowed in… women can send in their drivers to buy for them."

Commonly referred to as the "religious police," the CPVPV is the most powerful law enforcing authority in Saudi Arabia, and literally patrols the streets enforcing prayer, dress codes, and segregation of the sexes will the full brunt of the law. And, if the Starbucks transgressions are any indication, they take the latter category very seriously.

In 2013, the same police force reportedly arrested 42 "Asian" individuals for "staging an illegal mixed-gender party," and established 160 centimeters as being the ideal height of walls separating male and female workers at lingerie shops.

This morning, after reports emerged of women being blocked from entering, Starbucks issued the following statement to Eater, adding that the wall had come down during renovation:

"Starbucks in Saudi Arabia adheres to the local customs by providing separate entrances for families as well as single people. All our stores provide equal amenities, service, menu, and seating to men, women and families. We are working as quickly as possible as we refurbish our Jarir store, so that we may again welcome all customers in accordance with local customs."