Source: Reuters, Arab News, Khaleej Times, The National
Lt Gen Dahi Khalfan Tamim, the Dubai police chief, suggested yesterday that co-ed schooling could be the cause of cross-dressing.
photo: Stephen Lock, The National
DUBAI -- Calling it part of an "awareness campaign", police in Dubai have arrested several men and women for cross-dressing.
Police claim the arrests are part of a campaign aimed mostly at young people to preserve the social values of the cosmopolitan Gulf Arab trade and tourism hub, newspapers reported on Monday.
Police said most of those recently arrested were male cross-dressers with what they described as "long hair, make-up, and women's clothing." They claim to have made the arrests in public places such as malls, parks, and schools.
English-language daily, The National, reports that young men, "dressed in flamboyant feminine clothes with matching make-up," have become an increasingly common sight.
The chief of Dubai police, speaking at this week's launch of the campaign, described what he termed a "dangerous" trend in the city's schools where he and others claim young people abandoning traditional forms of dress.
"We have noted an emerging trend of men dressed as women and vice versa in the UAE markets and streets," the Khaleej Times daily quoted Dubai Police Chief Dhahi Khalfan as saying.
"Several men in women's dresses and make-up have already been arrested from shopping malls and residential buildings," he said.
He called upon the media and religious and educational institutions to spread awareness about what he said is "unnatural behavior that violates Islamic values."
Dubai is part of the seven-member United Arab Emirates, a Muslim country where cross-dressing is frowned upon but whose population is dominated by migrants with diverse backgrounds and lifestyles.
It's a city of sky-scrapers and mega-developments, which attracts foreign workers ranging from well-paid Western executives to low-wage Asian laborers. Tourists may wear bikinis and drink cocktails at hotel nightclubs but sex outside marriage is banned as is homosexual behavior.
Although it is unclear from media reports whether those arrested so far are adults or young people, the "awareness campaign" mainly targets youth, parents, and teachers, reports Khaleej Times.
Fathiya Mustafawi, the head of the parents' union at a Dubai state school, told The National that teachers, parents and school counselors were seeking solutions to "the problem".
"Children as young as 13 are being affected and some girls are getting intimidated by these manly looking girls," she claimed. "We cannot understand the causes and we are not sure how to stop it."
The National's report claims that school teachers, counselors and parents say they are worried about the growing number of children involved in cross-dressing and same-sex relationships.
Mustafawi claimed, "Children as young as 13 are being affected and some girls are getting intimidated by these manly looking girls."
"We cannot understand the causes and we are not sure how to stop it," she said.
Mustafawi claimed to be "aware" of cases of girls staging same-sex marriage ceremonies in school bathrooms with other pupils as witnesses.
Speaking to Arab News, Hamda Amiri, a social worker with one of the government high schools, said that there were an increasing number of girls dressing like boys in the schools.
Although other "experts" quoted in the papers said the cross-dressing is more common at boys schools, Amiri insisted, "The phenomenon is more visible in the girls' schools than in the boys."
"It has become fashionable and cool for some of these girls to dress and act as boys," she claimed. "It's shocking but some girls think that by dressing and acting this way, they are rebelling and making a statement." she said.
She claimed that this "phenomenon" emerged a few years ago. "I think it started as a cry for help from some of the girls who were experiencing difficult problems at home," she said. She cited the examples of two girls who were very aggressive and violent at school. "When we tried to speak to the parents, we found that the father was beating his wife and children. So the girls were acting tough," she said.
Khalfan, the police chief, called upon the Ministry of Social Affairs to study the reasons behind the trend and recommend solutions. "Co-education could be one of the reasons behind this," he opined.
Five years ago, the Government introduced co-education for children in grades one to six. "We are now witnessing the outcome of the first generation of students from mixed public elementary schools," said Mohammed Suhail al Muhairi, from the Islamic Affairs and Charitable Activities Department in Dubai.
Other so-called "experts" interviewed by the papers attributed the "phenomenon" to everything from internet access to children raised by nannies to the large numbers of foreign workers in the city.
Those detained by police were being referred to the public prosecutor as part of the one-week campaign called "Preserve Our Social Values," though it was not clear what charges would be brought.
In a March report on human rights abuses released by the US State Department, Dubai was cited for previous arrests of cross-dressers.
Full article: Dubai police crack down on cross-dressers | Reuters
Dubai Launches Drive Against Cross-Dressing | Arab News
Dubai Police go after culprits | Khaleej Times
Parents seek solution to cross-dressing | The National
Tough stance on those who mimic opposite sex | The National