Traditionally, the role of a
woman in the region is to be
a mother and matron of the
household, while the man is
the financial provider� How-
ever, as with any society, the
reality is far more nuanced�
There are thousands of
middle- and upper-middle-
class professional women
in the uAE who, like their
counterparts in the West,
juggle work and family
responsibilities�
The issue of sex is where
the differences between
the cultures are particularly
apparent� Premarital sex (or
indeed any sex outside mar-
riage) is taboo, although, as
with anything forbidden, it
still happens� Emirati women
are expected to be virgins
when they marry, and a fam-
ily’s reputation can rest upon
this point� The presence of
foreign women provides, in
the eyes of some Arab men,
a chance to get around these
norms with ease and without
consequences� Hence the
occasional hassle�
What to Wear
Even though you’ll see plenty
of Western women wearing
skimpy shorts and tank-tops
in shopping malls and other
public places, you should not
assume that it’s acceptable
to do so� While they’re too
polite a host to actually say
anything, most Emiratis find
this disrespectful� Despite
Dubai’s relative liberalism,
you are in a country that
holds its traditions dear�
When it comes to beach par-
ties and nightclubs almost
anything goes, but take a taxi
there and back�
Generally speaking, dress-
ing ‘modestly’ has the follow-
ing advantages: it attracts
less attention to you; you
will get a warmer welcome
from locals (who greatly
appreciate your willingness
to respect their customs);
and it’ll prove more comfort-
able in the heat� Dressing
modestly means covering
your shoulders, knees and
neckline� Baggy T-shirts
and loose cotton trousers or
over-the-knee skirts will not
only keep you cool but will
also protect your skin from
the sun� If you travel outside
Dubai (and Abu Dhabi), keep
in mind that everywhere else
in the uAE is far more
conservative�Work
You can pre-arrange work in
the uAE, but if you enter the
country on a visit visa and
then find work, you will have
to leave the country for one
day and re-enter under your
employer’s sponsorship�
If you have arranged to
work in Dubai, you will enter
the country on a visit visa
sponsored by your employer
while your residence visa
is processed� This process
involves a blood test for HIv/
AIDS and lots of paperwork�
Those on a residence visa
who are sponsored by aspouse who is in turn spon-
sored by an employer are not
officially permitted to work�
This rule is often broken, and
it is possible to find work in
the public or private sector�
If you are in this situation,
remember that your spouse,
and not the company you
work for, is your sponsor�
One effect of this is that you
may only be able to apply for
a tourist visa to another Gulf
Arab country with a consent
letter from your spouse� In
some cases you will need
to be accompanied by your
spouse, who has company
sponsorship� Similarly, if you
want to apply for a driving
licence, you will also need
a consent letter from your
spouse�
If you obtain your resi-
dence visa through an
employer and then quit
because you’ve found some-
thing better, you may find
yourself under a six-month
ban from working in the uAE�Top 10 Tips for WoMen TraVellers̈ Wear a wedding ring – it will make you appear less
‘available’�
̈ If you’re unmarried but travelling in male company,
say that you’re married rather than girlfriend/
boyfriend�
̈ Avoid direct eye contact with men (dark
sunglasses help)�
̈ Don’t sit in the front seat of taxis unless the driver
is a woman�
̈ On public transport, sit in the women’s section
towards the front�
̈ If you need help for any reason (directions, etc),
ask a woman first�
̈ If dining alone, eat at Western-style places or ask
to be seated in the ‘family’ section of local eateries�
̈ It’s perfectly acceptable for women to go straight
to the front of a queue (eg at banks or post offices)
or ask to be served first before any men who might
be waiting�
̈ If someone follows you in his car, take a picture of
his licence plate or just get your mobile phone out (if
it doesn’t have a camera, simply pretend it does)�
̈ If you’re being followed, go to the nearest public
place, preferably a hotel lobby� If this doesn’t dis-
courage them, ask the receptionist to call the police,
which usually makes them slink away�d
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