DUBAI

Enjoy OP, sounds lovely. You’ve actually got me thinking about visiting Dubai again, a friend has been asking me and my kids to go visit her for months and I might just take her up on it! Have a lovely trip.

I have a few Muslim female friends who have relocated to Dubai and one to Qatar. They have wonderful lives as do majority of the emirati women out there. Sorry to disappoint you but they are not oppressed and locked up like you would like to believe.
Save your pity party for British women who are unsafe here in the UK and heading down a dangerous road of having our rights completely trampled over.

Sounds great OP.
Just be prepared for the high temps outside and humidity if you are going soon.
Enjoy!

Sounds a little bit Aunt Lydia and the difference between freedom to and freedom from…
land those saying what can’t you do as a ‘non-Muslim woman’ are missing the point - I don’t want to go somewhere whereany woman is subjected to even more patriarchal nonsense than here.

Totally forgot about the temp! Yes I was there this time last year and it hit 40 some days. It’s only an issue outside though, conversely the you may need a cardie indoors as the aircon is very chilly in some places

@Sowhatifthatswhatisaid ah annoying! I feel like my biggest day to day grievances here all relate to the “computer says no” things and script following. I personally haven’t felt treated unequally due to being a woman, and for what it’s worth people wouldn’t assume I’m “western”.

Gosh, like the United Kingdom? Sounds awful in regards to human rights.
https://www.amnesty.org/en/location/europe-and-central-asia/united-kingdom/report-united-kingdom/

@jeaux90 can you tell me what these shit women’s rights are? I want to know how I’m being oppressed.

@jeaux90 you lost credibility a bit on the first page tbh

And @DisquietintheRanks there is a difference between state sanctioned lack of rights and countries where there is a lack of enforcement of rights.

@DisquietintheRanks

Yes I don't travel to places that have shit rights for women or treat migrant workers like slaves. I hope that clears it up for you.

Not sure why you’re going then. Plenty of lovely resorts in far less controversial places that are much closer.

In true Mumsnet fashion though, the OP didn't ask for a full run down of human rights records throughout the world. She asked if she would be okay to wear her cossie in the resort in Dubai.

Yes OP, you can.

Turkey has an awful human rights record.

From Amnesty’s website:

In July, Türkiye’s highest administrative court, the Council of State, rejected the applications by dozens of women’s organizations, bar associations and others to annul the 2021 presidential decision to withdraw from the Council of Europe Convention on Preventing and Combating Violence Against Women and Domestic Violence (the Istanbul Convention). The Court’s decision effectively rubber-stamped the unilateral withdrawal by the executive from this treaty. An appeal against the Council decision to reject the applications was pending, while several separate applications by women’s rights organizations had still not been heard by the end of the year.

I wonder how many of the Dubai critics are quite happy to go to Turkey on holiday.

You can touch a man in public. I mean full on snogging is going to upset people (you'll get told to stop not arrested though) but kisses on the cheek are fine and you can hug/hold hands FFS.

@LakieLady - are you planning on leaving the UK given it has its own amnesty page? I can't see a Micronesia page, maybe you could move there?

I'm not excusing issues Dubai has and I'm not blind to them but having just come back from South Africa, to compare UAE to Apartheid era South Africa is ridiculous and it is Islamophopia
You never get these threads when people talk of holidaying in lots of other countries which have similar human rights concerns, it's just Dubai. Go look at the Amnesty report on Thailand for example.

I feel like I need to add that I am big promoter of maxi dresses for comfort and skin safety in summer. I hope it did not give anyone idea shorter dresses can't be worn!

There's been a programme on bbc2 the last 3 weeks about Dubai, the third one explains drinking etc laws. It should be on iplayer.

@Yusay the mall is very, very expensive though.. I’d shop before I go. 😅

Gets a bit hot, a minor detail but not ideal for people who aren't keen on hot weather

And by the way I always felt very respectfully treated as a woman in Dubai. It was refreshing compared to the UK, frankly. No man in Dubai would dream of manspreading his legs all over me the way happens daily on UK trains. People opened doors for me and were helpful. It was nice.

OP I’ve been many many times for work.

I feel so much safer there than in UK. No drunks, no on street harassment, much lower crime, etc. You’re safer with a Dubai police officer than you are with a British police officer, sadly.

The only big must do is do not kiss or even touch a man (even husband) in public. You can get arrested for public kissing, to them it’s a bit like flashing your genitals at passers by.

Anything you wear in UK is also acceptable anywhere in Dubai, I mostly wore shorts and t shirt or a knee length dress. If you want to cover up, buy a pashmina out there, you can buy silk or cashmere for what you’d pay for polyester in the UK. The shopping there is fantastic, don’t buy much before you go, just go the mall out there.

Yes it has human rights issues but that will not affect you, and there are very few countries in the world with perfect human rights records.

Have fun and say hi to the waterpark for me.

Are you as assiduous in your travel morality in other parts of the world? Because women and migrant workers are treated like shit in a whole heap of countries. Would you travel to the US for instance? Indonesia?

I didn't feel unsafe or that you couldn't sit round pools in swimwear - drinking was expensive and poor quality in my opinion and food a bit mixed but again expensive for what it was. Accommodation though --superb, sea not nice for swimming and not great beaches either.

I personally didn't like the general vibe, very bling and a bit subservient and all based on shopping -actually quite boring - but each to their own .