Women in Saudi Arabia enjoy a great deal of respect for their modesty and behavior, but some are misusing that respect to steal everything from jewelry to clothing and groceries, using loose-fitting abayas to conceal the loot. In Madinah, shopowners say they may be targeted by professional thieves who take advantage of the Kingdomâs cultural structure. Abdullah Eshfaqa owns a supermarket in central Madinah. He said theft cases increase dramatically during the holy month. âRamadan is a good season for us, yet full of headaches,â Eshfaqa said. âThere is no way we can stop female thieves. They hide what they take inside their bags and sometimes hide them underneath their abayas. We canât physically search them, and we donât have any women working in the store who could search them.â For a gold merchant, the situation is a little more challenging and costly because jewelry is extremely concealable â and valuable. Mushtaq Sadik, a Southeast Asian clerk in a womenâs and childrenâs clothing store, said he has to deal with several theft cases every week. âThe best way to avoid these women thieves is by monitoring every corner of the store and to actually show shoppers that we are watching,â Sadik said. âWhen thieves see that they are under watch, they leave and search elsewhere for an easy target.â