Before her wedding last year, Huda Batterjee went abroad to buy her bridal lingerie. She just couldn't bear the humiliation of discussing her most intimate apparel with a man. She had little choice: there are almost no saleswomen in Saudi Arabia. Now a group of Saudi women -- sick of having to deal with male sales staff when buying bras or panties, not to mention frilly negligees or thongs -- have launched a campaign this week to boycott lingerie stores until they employ women.

It's an irony of the kingdom's strict segregation of the sexes. Only men are employed as sales staff to keep women from having to deal with male customers or work around men.