To never want to visit Qatar?

[RareLilacFinch]

The incessant full-page ads I’m getting on MN encouraging me to visit Qatar have got me thinking about why I’d never want to go there.

As a woman, there are obvious reasons - not wanting to be under the “guardianship” of my husband, and the forced gynaecological examinations of a plane full of Australian women being the tip of the iceberg - on top of the hideous human rights abuses of migrant workers, and the general suppression of free speech.

So AIBU - am I missing something?

I am speechless. You are so wrong.

Any country that bans same sex relationships cannot call itself civilised. I would never go there.

The issue of needing a husband's signature appears to be more about needing the signature of a wage earner, than about gender, from what I can see. Which makes sense if you're paying for something?

I would probably get an ad blocker

My rule of thumb guide for visiting a country/not visiting a country has 2 basic parts.

1. Would my children + partners be free to visit/walk around etc. (all gay, 5 white, 1 black)
2. Would all children I taught be free and welcome to visit. I taught a lot of S asia heritage, Muslim children.

I can also bring up extensions, addendums to these 2 basic rules - treatment of women, minorities, slavery, personal safety, politics - is my presence as a tourist showing support?

This rules out quite a few countries.

Qatar would pass rule 2 - but not rule 1 not any of the other addendums.

So not I’d not be visiting.

The level of whataboutery and self justification on this thread is amazing.

I have only been in Egypt and Singapore. I don’t want to go back to Egypt; I went put with some Muslim ladies and the men shouting things a me; probably because I was dressed as a westerner. When I was with the Muslim men they would not say anything.

That was over 20 years ago plus the dirtiness in Cairo put me off. I did go into a Muslim home and it was impeccable inside.

Yes modern slavery exists in the UK. The difference is it isn’t run by the state - it is illegal and considerable resources are committed to combatting it. Companies are required to make a statement every year on how they’re identifying and eliminating it in their supply chains.

anyone who thinks that these countries are remotely comparable with western democracies just because those democracies aren’t perfect are laughably naive.

I find it quite amusing that these companies are trying to persuade us these are suitable holiday locations. I mean apart from the the fact it's fucking roasting and of course the fact that women are treated as owned objects rather than human beings I can't think why we wouldn't all rush there 🤔
They'll be trying to convince us to holiday in Afghanistan soon.

Singapore. Until 2022.

I think the US is up there with countries that treat women and minorities very badly. Plus of course bomb the shit out of other countries.

No it’s hard enough to shop or live vaguely ethically as a consumer in Britain but is dead easy to avoid travelling into ethical and moral disaster areas. I round never go to there or quite a few other countries.

There is a push for tourism from the Taliban and shamefully quite a few female influencers have joined in supporting them after funded trips.

Egypt was my best trip ever and I would go back in a heartbeat. The history makes it worthwhile.

I have zero desire to go to Switzerland, as pp suggested.

I visited last month and thoroughly enjoyed my trip there. I was intrigued by the place and do like to see different cultures even if I don’t agree with them. I went for a week but wished I had gone for a couple of more days as there was a lot to do there.
As a tourist I felt very safe and as I don’t really drink alcohol I liked being somewhere where alcohol was only available in certain hotels.

Why isn't Egypt being singled out as a country not to visit with it’s shocking prevalence of FGM?

I have an AD blocker and don’t see any advertisements at all.

Yep I also have close LGBT+ family members and so there’s a lot of extra things we need to research before going on holiday and where are we safe is one of them.

I'm sorry it was a number of years ago I don't recall the name of it.
I do remember it was similar to gumtree advertising services and with a bit of shady wording the advertiser's were able to get round certain laws .The journalist with a bit of digging was able to set up meetings and it becomes clear that the women were changing hands for money.

Why isnt the US being singled out as a country not to visit with its shocking prevalence of women dying in childbirth or being forced to give birth in red states?

Crikey do you have a link for this?

Probably because it's a thread about Quatar.

I'd join in discussion on those other places and certainly on your last point, I have done enthusiastically in the past.

Sorry for location typo

I would not go for many reasons, human rights, environment and modern slavery to name a few.

Historically it's a lot more complicated. Qatar is a very young country having been part of the Ottoman Empire (1550's onwards) and later under a British directorate (1916) before becoming a independent country in the 1970's. And that's before anyone looks into the tribal history of the native population. It's fascinating and can give an understanding to the why of the current situation in the ME.

I think it's moved to ethical travel. Which I find quite a complicated subject and not as easy as people claim it is.

It's the ads that enable everyone to use this site for free, remember? As for the comment about China, they have their own internal homegrown mass tourism industry of Chinese people. They couldn't care less if Europeans and Americans stay away. I've been three times now and each time they make things more difficult with their visa requirements. I'd recommend Taiwan instead. I certainly have no interest in Dubai, Qatar etc. Far more interesting ME countries to visit.

tellmewhenthespaceshiplandscoz

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cv223yvnp9mo