When in other countries, you should follow their laws, just as you would expect their residents to do when visiting us.

so starbucks is evil...

I don't get it. If they were in "the only place women were allowed to sit with men" then why was there a problem with a woman sitting with man?

She was sentenced to drink only Starbucks coffee for a year.

This is one bass-ackwards country.

First a woman being drugged and raped, then sick cows being pushed around by forklifts, now this? I'm about to slit my wrists today. Thanks Consumerist!

@stre:

Because they aren't related. The family area allows husbands to sit with wives.

Ladies-and-gentlemen... I present to you our biggest ally in the middle east! Too bad we are too dependent on their oil to ever stand up for human rights.

And a vote for Mike "American Ayatollah" Huckabee is different from this how?

In a perfect world, we wouldn't be doing business with the Saudis.

@Hanke: As much as my outrage is bubbling up over what happened, I do have to concede your point - she was in a foreign country, with its own laws. Just as we expect foreigners to follow our laws, we have to do the same. No matter how arbitrary and asinine the laws may seem - ours may be just as asinine, especially lately with some of the draconian security laws put in place after 9/11

They were wearing dresses?

@suburbancowboy: In a perfect world we wouldn't be in starbucks.

@Hanke: does this include religious persecution?

@stre: It was a man who wasn't her husband or a family member.

@Hanke:

hmm, I don't think that applies to all situations. You have to look at it with some perspective. Saying that is kinda like saying... if you went to Germany back in the day you should just rat out Jews to have killed... since it was the law there...

You can't just blindly follow government with it is obviously a bigger human rights issue. Also, it is completely wrong to inforce your religious beliefs on another... try to tell them that, I know... but that doesn't mean you can't question it yourself.

Yeah, you should obey foreign laws, but OTOH, if a tourist from another country here did something culturally "off" and technically illegal (let's say, smoking in a public building), I'd expect a cop to explain it to them and give them a chance to knock it off, not arrest them and haul them into court.

And yeah, the whole idea that U.S. policy in the Middle East has jack to do with our ideology is completely blown by the fact that we cozy up to a place as vile as Saudi Arabia.

@Elviswasntmyhero: his skin is lighter in color?

Stupid backwater countries with their retarded prehistoric sexist religious laws.

@B, @JustAGuy2: got it, thanks

@Elviswasntmyhero: Once is a participatory act in a representative republic, one is a crime based on cultural values.

Islam doesn't much care for the Starbucks logo either. That woman in the center should be covered up head to toe.

Wonder what happened to the guy? Also hate it when the do stories like this and there's a picture of women with a black jilbab and niqab or the guy with the sunnah beard dipped in henna.

@Hanke: @Meat_Shield: We can at least make the attempt to distinguish between legal and moral relativism. That is, we can believe that a person should make every attempt to adhere to a foreign country's laws and regulations, but still be outraged that they exist, and fight for change.

@Hanke: Read again: "She sat with a male colleague in the Starbucks' family area, the only place women are allowed to sit with men. "

@melanie.dawn:

my solution; stay out of saudi arabia.

i know their professions probably brought them there. tough. no amount of money is worth that.

So would this apply to Queen Elizabeth, Hillary or Maggie Thatcher?...., Would they be flogged?

Questions an interested mind might have is all.

Moral of the story: Don't go to countries that have decided to medieval Islamic law. I actually agree that the lady needs to obey Saudi Arabia's laws as see went there on her own.

You see what we are fighting to keep out the USA and UK?

@akyiba: Probably nothing. In pretty much every situation that involves violations of propriety like this, the woman is considered to be at fault. Even if she was beaten and raped by five men while walking down a street shopping for food.

We should give that country lots of money... oh wait.

My official comment would probably get me banned from the Consumerist, so all I can do is politely denounce their (Saudis') treatment of women.

breaking news, saudi arabia is completely insane and we as a country are completely beholden to them.

@boandmichele: When in Rome...

There is a book about a Canadian who was imprisoned there , discusses the ex-pat underworld of drinking etc.

Written by a guy named Williams Sampson. Bit slow, but an interesting read. Goto your fave book site and search his name. (or send me copious amounts of cash and I will send my copy)

At the time I was reading it I was considering a really well paying job there. Forget that.

@IrisMR: seconded

Yeah - Islam is such a "peaceful" religion, aint it?

Wow, let the flaming begin.

WHY IS THIS ON CONSUMERIST?????????????????????????????

I don't see anything wrong with this. Seems pretty sinful to me to drink a cup of coffee with a man in the family area. If only she had gone for the hot chocolate.

@Freedomboy: Nothing would happen because like everywhere else they would be traveling with diplomatic immunity, and as a representative would be more mindful of cultural differences. These were private citizens.

I think the culture is reprehensible, but going over there on business is at its heart a participatory, voluntary act, so be prepared. She should have been.

I also find it reprehensible to cheapen the rights and freedoms we do have in this country by equating in any way our laws, no matter how much you may disagree with them, to such a situation. There are many more freedoms robbed of the average American family by their homeowners' association or local school board than the Federal government. But then, those often tend to be policed by the left, so they must be OK...

Wow, let the misogyny begin, more like it. Shameful that people think your sex should be a prosecutable crime. I'm guessing everyone who just shrugs and says "Well, it's their law" is a male.

melanie.dawn got it right. What's the old saying about not standing up for other people's rights until they come after you and nobody's left to stand up for you?

Disappointing.

@WhaDa: WHY ARE YOU ON CONSUMERIST???????????????????

Flagged.

The real disappointing part is that American businesses are happy to work within this twisted system.

We do sometimes protest what we consider to be racist or misogynistic laws in countries around the world. When it comes to Saudi Arabia and other major oil producing nations, we walk on tiptoes around those issues lest their dictators cut production.

After watching Persepolis, this doesn't come as too surprising...

@kimsama: In the Kingdom, "standing up for other's rights" gets you disappeared into prison (possibly forever), publicly tortured or publicly executed. If you were a high-profile foreigner, you'd probably just be deported after a horrifying incarceration and interrogation.

Only the Saudis can fix their country. The best we can do if refuse to have dealings with them, and until the oil runs out, that isn't very likely.

@RokMartian: This isn't about Islam -- it is about Saudi Arabia. In almost all other Islamic-majority countries this would NOT be an issue at all. Try to consider a distinction between culture and religion, and how countries can be different, even if they have the same religion as dominating presence.

Hmm, like countries that have Christianity as a dominating religion can be VERY different in the status, policies, situation, values, etc. of and towards women, and many other issues.

I know it is difficult when you don't have solid knowledge, but try to consider the potential for distinction? Sometimes pretending to be intelligent, actually helps you move along the path towards intelligence....habit you know, habit!

I'm pretty sure this is a clearcut case of "When in Rome..."

Having travelled/lived abroad for years, and having had experience with actually having actually had diplomatic immunity, I can say that as a private citizen, it is her responsibility to abibe buy the customs of the host country. Because you find it ridiculous (and I do) doesn't mean she can simply flaunt local laws without consequences.

@Whitey Fisk: its not a dress, its a Thawb [en.wikipedia.org] lets not be ignorant. its the culutral method of dress. actually very nice when its hot as hell. get a nice breeze goin if ya know what i mean

@noasalira: It IS about Islam, they didn't tell her she was going to hell because Jesus said so.