A 23 year old Filipino man has been found guilty of dressing as a woman in Dubai, and will be deported after serving a jail sentence the Court of First Instance has ruled.
The man was picked up at 3am by police patrolling the Bur Dubai area. It is reported that the defendant presented a female ID to the arresting officer that he had previously found in a taxi and had started to use. The officer claimed “I thought the defendant was a woman. He gave me a woman’s ID but the face was different”. The man, who was dressed in women’s clothing was arrested but denied the charges.
In Islam, it is forbidden for men to dress or try to pass themselves as women and vice versa. The religion prescribes rules for modest dress and generally promotes the segregation of the sexes on personal levels. Due to Muslim men and women being prohibited from exposing certain parts of the body to the opposite sex, dressing or posing as the opposite gender may cause a loss a perceived loss of modesty and cause embarrassment when among others. It is also believed that we should accept God’s creation of us as a certain gender. Similarly the Christian faith also commands its followers not to dress in the clothes of the opposite gender as in Deuteronomy 22:5.
This religious command has obviously been transferred into Dubai’s legal system. For many expats, this sentence may come as a culture shock. Being an Islamic country, most people are aware that there are certain laws governing what is culturally and publicly acceptable behaviour. Despite this, many forbidden things in Islam are tolerated in the country, such as drinking alcohol in designated locations. It seems then that knowing where to draw the line in the UAE between personal freedoms and public appropriateness may be a little confusing for many expats.
Cross cultural awareness and training is therefore extremely important for expats coming into the region. What would be acceptable behaviour and ignored in some areas may get you into trouble in another. Kwintessential intercultural courses cater for the new expat in Dubai through to multicultural team building and executive coaching. Contact us for more details.
