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...

Which countries have great human rights records and also allow global employees with non-white passports easy access? Struggling to think of any.

No, do NOT go. Go immediately to HR and say that because of your sexuality this places you in danger of discrimination and even imprisonment and you absolutely cannot go, and how will they support you in communicating this to your managers?

I bet said managers being while male and straight (a guess) have just never ever thought of this, and once it's been bought to their attention they may well feel a bit horrified and act to support you. But they need to be told and the ball needs to be in their court in terms of sorting this out as it is a diversity issue.

Sure. But in your first post you said those posters saying Dubai is fine “clearly haven’t been there for work.” That’s incorrect.

Ir's not a regime I want to support in any way.

Lots of posters have said this kind of thing. But I suspect that none/few of them have ever been in the position that they need or are asked to go, with the short trip being beneficial to them.

I could easily sit behind my screen saying "I would never (insert action).." knowing that it will never be an option or requirement for me.

No one is suggesting OP would be gang raped. One PP suggested that if OP were to be sexually assaulted then this would be a crime as it is sex outside marriage - this is the truth.

It's not racist to suggest that the regime has said that homosexuality is illegal - it is. Why would OP want to go somewhere where she is a criminal for who she loves?

Dubai has atrocious human rights records and that is a fact.

This is not true. Sex outside marriage isn’t illegal in Dubai and hasn’t been for some time.

That’s not the concern of those posters who are allowing their racism and superiority complex to denigrate countries they believe are inferior to them. Even if they are actually coming across as batshit crazy!

@QueenoftheNimbleFlyingCat have you been to Dubai? Why are you referring to it as a ‘regime’?

Exactly.

No, let me clarify that I don't think posters criticising Dubai are being racist. They have raised legitimate points. I just think it's hard to find a good meeting place for global employees.

sadly, I think most are. There is always the usual pile on when someone mentions Dubai or similar locations in the middle east. Comments telling her she will be imprisoned for 10 years and gang raped just thrown about casually. It’s infuriating. The emiratis don’t roam the streets looking for lesbians to imprison. Some of these posters need to get over themselves. When their children start holidaying in ‘places like this’ and come home happy, I wonder how they will react. All this sanctimonious talk about human rights etc when brown people travel to USA they are treated like shit and questioned for hours. I don’t see anyone boycotting the USA for this and all the horrors they’ve inflicted on the world! No country is perfect.

No, I have. I have been asked to travel to UAE for work on several occasions and have refused.

Hi OP, you cannot go to Dubai. Everyone thinks the Middle East is liberal, it isn't. Who knows what might happen to you if you go.

In my early career there was a potential for a major project in tge Middle East and i refysed to go. I said that noone should dictate what a woman wears, so find a man to do it. My Christian colleagues, then added their worries into the mix. Well, we didnt need to get strung up about it cos tge group CEO asked my director fir a reason not to take tge project on. He did so it never happened! Men are women's best allies :)

I'm absolutely despising these ads on MN. They keep freezing the site 🤬

Dubai does not place restrictions on female clothing or work wear? Other than the obvious rules which we have in the UK too. Are you confusing Saudi Arabia with Dubai. They are two totally different places?

Sweden and Canada are two easy ones that come to mind.

Canada? Lol. If removing children from their families in order to assimilate them with European standards is your kind of thing. But when in doesn’t work kill them all and pile them into a mass grave! Yes, Canada is definitely a country with an impeccable human rights record!

Well she can’t stunt her own career by refusing to go.

sexuality and gender are both protected characteristics. If she faced any detriment whatsoever to her career/job etc from her employers by refusing to go, then she had a discrimination case based on equality laws

She’s been invited to participate, she should absolutely be able to raise these concerns as valid and not be forced to go and she should absolutely still even have the right to participate whether it’s in an entirely different location or remotely.

Even just rescinding the invite to take part would be seen as inequality at this point.

@ElizaDav absolutely raise your concerns my love. I feel that potentially Dubai has been mooted as “trendy” and if you point out the fact you can’t go due to your sexuality they may well be like “crap we just didn’t really think along those lines let’s change it”. If they say “tough shit that’s where it is you can’t come” then you have to then decide where to take that.

but nothings going to happen until you talk to the bosses. So go for it. Don’t compromise yourself xx

Didn’t Sweden have a shift to the right recently, including views on immigration?

What's wrong with dictating what a woman wears? It's not something I would want in this country as I believe our obsession with what you can and can't show only makes it more appealing but that's another argument.

If I was going to the gym in the UK a gym bra with cycling shorts is fine. Heading to a Muslim country or even the Vatican needs modest dress and covering my hair, that's also fine.

If I was your boss, I would be looking at performance management for lack of respect for the job if your more bothered about what your wearing than getting the job done!

So what you actually meant to post was which countries are safe if we choose to only look at the laws in place in 1800, a very sensible approach…

The mass grave was discovered not so long ago and the children and their families have never received an apology or any compensation for the crimes committed. Nothing to do with the 1800’s……..the schools in question were still operating within the last few decades not centuries ago. HTH.

I wonder if all the posters telling the OP to go to Dubai are straight.

So you’re not aware that you’re actually referring to a law in 1800, within living memory the UK shipped children to Australia, so I have to assume you wouldn’t live in the UK as its too dangerous for people with children?

That’s the argument being pondered by posters towards the OP - their experiences of the past 15-20 or so years render Dubai a no-go for them. Perhaps you need to point it towards them too!!

I've lived and worked in several places who government/policies I don't agree with. But I go, make the absolute best of it and stay out of any trouble. With the best will in the world it will potentially hit your career if you turn down things just because you don't agree with the place where the event is being held. In Dubai if you're in the main city area, in international hotels or at work there won't be a problem unless you make one.