to refuse to go on a business trip to Dubai

[ElizaDav]

I have been asked to provide my expertise on a product development project. Not part of my main responsibilities but an interesting opportunity and cool way to get more exposure in the organisation. Part of it will entail participation in a 4 day meeting with global colleagues on Dubai. Am an out and proud lesbian and definitely not a place I want to go to. Would it look bad if I refuse? Could I suggest they have the meeting in the UK (where we are HQed) or another country? I feel angry that i have been put in a position where i have to choose between career development and travelling to a homophobic and misogynistic country. Our organisation is always going on about diversity inclusion etc yet men making decisions that we should all meet in Dubai just smacks of institutional homophobia and misogyny. Arrghhh...

I’m a lesbian and you couldn’t pay me to go. Your employer must be breaking some kind of risk assessment/wellbeing of employees rules.

Please bring it up with them and don’t go.

When visiting countries that criminalise homosexuality there’s a couple of things i consider.

For example, I would visit Jamaica because they’re laws are literally just outdated ones from the british empire. Also technically only sodomy (so male homosexuality) is illegal.

Do not go to Dubai - stay safe.

(also would like to give you a virtual solidarity hug)

It’s never the oppressed’s responsibility to educate the oppressor.

I guess that's why they're still oppressed then.

The risk isn’t non-existent. It’s trivial if everything goes well for you and you are prepared to lie about, for instance, your family life when people engage in small talk. But if you, for instance, get raped in Dubai, attempting to access justice or even medical care, could endanger you. You are also vulnerable to blackmail.

No company that attempts to be inclusive of women or LGBTQ people should be agreeing to meetings in countries whose legal systems criminalize them through no fault of their own. Especially if it is possible to hold those meetings elsewhere. It should be a standard policy to look elsewhere for a meeting location.

WTAF?

I'm speechless.

That analogy doesn’t work at all. No one will be jailed in Texas in poor conditions and sentenced in a language and judicial procedure they don’t understand for being anti abortion restrictions. It is all very well saying she’ll be fine but op could accidentally let something slip.

My global employer has a presence in Dubai. I have family there who I choose not to visit. However if work asked me to go I would because I feel my agreeing to work for them I’ve made that moral compromise already. Your position to object is stronger if it’s not a location your employer actually has an entity in.

No, that’s incorrect. You don’t need to be married anymore. The rules changed a while ago.

Your actually being sensible to refuse OP but I would ask for a meeting with your HR ask them to risk assess it and state your sexuality as a key factor.

I travelled to Dubai for work it should have been fine as I was there in my work capacity reality was very different. I was treated like something on a shoe (they didnt like the advice I was there to provide) and was told to my face that I was a silly stupid woman who couldn't possibly understandand and why did my husband give permission for me to travel.....

I won't even fly through the region anymore let alone travel for work and have turned down trips since.

I'd go.....

1. As a woman you're far safer there than walking around most places in the UK. Any stares etc you get are likely to be from other expats (mainly from the subcontinent) than locals.
2. Though technically illegal there are quite a few gay clubs and the gay friends I had over there had a great time and never felt threatened.
3. The roles of women have changed immensely over the last few years in business, politics, medicine etc and they have far more freedom.
4. It's warm....and sunny....(and the food is great)

As for why meetings can't be held elsewhere... depending on where your offices are it may be seen as a central point that's easy for everyone to get to.

Well, I'm not gay so feel free to ignore my opinion but I'd probs feel it an own goal to potentially stunt my career to make a stand against a country I'm not realistically going to change in any way. But I can understand it as a matter of principle.

If it's so awful, why do so many people holiday there completely safe?

I very much doubt it. 🙄

The issues in these countries tend to be against public displays of affection. Hetero or otherwise.

So in that respect you’re no more at risk than a straight individual.

No sex, no pda’s and no protests (even small seemingly subtle ones).

To answer your question though I think you may have the protection of UK equalities law to refuse. I’m not certain on that though.

Is there a reason it's being held in Dubai or is it just a central location for all to go to? I personally wouldn't be happy for safety reasons a as well as ethical ones

Dubai is very safe for female travellers. Definitely safer than the UK.

Also, I would be wary of bringing my sexuality into my work life as it could be deemed unprofessional.

Not saying your principles are wrong OP, they aren't, but tread carefully from your employment point of view.

Good on you.

I was disgusted with Rebel Wilson for promoting Dubai recently. It's made me look at her completely differently.

Refuse to go. Educate your workplace.

If there is a very good valid reason for the meeting being in Dubai (central location with no easy alternative/presence there etc) then I would go. If it was chosen as a fun location then I would definitely question it as it says a lot about the company's values. You wouldn't pay me to holiday in Dubai.

Homosexuality is illegal in Dubai.

You are advising the OP to do something that could get her jailed and lashed.

That is why it is stupid.

Not unreasonable. I've worked in a firm with a presence in the middle east that also was very into diversity and it was actually stated that you'd never be expected to go if you weren't comfortable being there.

Ask why, as a supposedly inclusive company, they have chosen a place that is the reverse of their ethos, and that effectively excludes you.

Seriously? Words fail me

I travelled to Dubai for work it should have been fine as I was there in my work capacity reality was very different. I was treated like something on a shoe (they didnt like the advice I was there to provide) and was told to my face that I was a silly stupid woman who couldn't possibly understandand and why did my husband give permission for me to travel

My employer provides specialist health and safety consultancies to clients which include the oil industry and we were asked to send someone to Saudi Arabia some years ago.

They asked around for a volunteer and I said I wasn't interested because your experience @Scottishskifun is how I imagined it would play out, ie they'd either not let me anywhere near their oil refinery without an appropriate chaperone, or even if they did, they wouldn't listen to what I had to say. I can't remember if we sent a man in the end or declined the work.

I work in feminist activism and we have our regional meeting in Dubai shortly. Our cup does not exactly runneth over with great choices in the region, and Dubai has a easy visa regime, good value hotels and it's safe to travel around. I hate the place but there's a reason it's so often used. I wouldn't refuse to go anywhere on the grounds I didn't agree with their laws- but that's because my entire career has been about trying to shift those laws. Honestly my team have more hassle from creepy men in the UK than they do in Dubai. So it's more of a principled stand for you than an actual risk.

I think you can definitely have a conversation with your employer about other options for that meeting- what other global hubs do they use? But if they use Dubai as standard and this is going to be a recurring feature then you might want to rethink your employment. Also do be aware that if you have a lot of colleagues in Dubai some of them will be making this set of compromises every day; think about how they might feel if you let it be known that's why you are not attending.

I have refused all work trips to countries where my very existence is a crime OP. I have only had one employer who originally said I still have to go, so I agreed to go if they would sign a disclaimer that guaranteed my safety, obviously legal said they couldn’t sign it due to the laws in the country, so I didn’t go.