The UAE is today celebrating its annual “Emirati Women’s Day”, designated to recognize "the contribution of the nation's women, and their role in the development and advancement of the country,” according to local media.
Many, including Emirates-based companies, have taken to social media for some mutual back-patting about the “empowerment” of Emirati women.
- Dubai Customs Celebrates UAE Women’s Day, and Honors 44 Female Employees
- UAE celebrates Emirati Women’s Day
Princess Haya Bint Al Hussein, wife of Dubai ruler Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, posted the following on Facebook, including a quote from her husband.
Enough said #يوم_المراه_الاماراتية pic.twitter.com/LRxttkYkWN
— Amna K. Al Mazmi (@Moon_BinJuma) August 26, 2017
اخت الرجال وهي الجزء المكمل في بناء الوطن
— عبيد الكندي (@ovip_2002) August 28, 2017
#يوم_المرأة_الإماراتية#الامارات pic.twitter.com/H80YYOUijh
The sister of the men is a complementary part in building the homeland.
Du, an Emirati telecoms company wrote on Twitter:
أنتِ مصدرٌ للقوة! #يوم_المرأة_الإماراتية
— du (@dutweets) August 28, 2017
!You are the source of power#EmiratiWomensDay pic.twitter.com/lPjeY4Cq6K
UAE-based “Queenex Tissues” tweeted:
للمرأة الاماراتية أطيب التهاني
— Queenex Tissues (@queenextissues) August 28, 2017
ولها منّا كل التقدير و الاحترام
.
كـل عـام وأنـتن بـخيـر #يوم_المرأة_الاماراتية #الامارات #يوم_المرأة pic.twitter.com/YfIxrsiQwZ
To UAE women, felicitations. They have from us the utmost esteem and respect. Many happy returns.
That so many companies are enthusiastically jumping on the “Emirati Women’s Day” bandwagon should be an indication that it does not go much further than the surface level of women's issues in the UAE.
Rhetoric around the occasion focuses entirely on vague praise of what Emirati women have achieved. Commendable, of course, but little mention is made of what might need to be done for those women to participate more fully in the economy, government and society.
And there is a lot that remains to be done.
In the World Economic Forum’s Global Gender Gap Report 2017, the UAE ranked 124 out of 144. This meant that, while it placed ahead of all but three MENA countries, it was behind most of the rest of the world.
For all the self-congratulation about women’s work in the UAE, a 2016 study found that only 38 percent of Emirati women are in employment. This, despite female university students massively outnumbering their male peers, representing as much as 90 percent of the student body in some higher education institutions.
According to Dr Rabia Naguib, co-author of that study, restrictions on women’s work include the demands of raising a family (still a burden placed largely on women) and “various constraints on their mobility” with “the mixing with men [continuing] to be discouraged”.
On an official level, the Human Right’s Watch (HRW) report 2017 identified a number of fundamental ways in which the Emirates’ laws contravene women’s rights.
First, the nation’s 2015 anti-discrimination laws make no reference to gender-based discrimination.
Added to that, marriage in the UAE is an area plagued with issues for women. Under 2005 personal status laws, women are required to obey their husbands, including seeking their spouse’s permission to work.
If that weren’t bad enough, refusing to have sex with her husband can see an Emirati woman stripped of her right to maintenance. And men can unilaterally divorce their wives, while women seeking a divorce must apply for a court order.
Women also face potential discrimination in securing the custody of children following divorce.
“While the UAE's civil and sharia courts apply the principle of ‘in the best interests of the child’ in cases relating to the residence [custody] of a child,” HRW warned in 2015, “the discrimination women suffer in other areas of the law may mean they don't get a fair trial in these hearings.”
Even worse, domestic violence is permitted under Emirati law. The penal code allows “chastisement by a husband to his wife and the chastisement of minor children,” up to the limits imposed by Islamic law. This was confirmed by a 2010 Federal Supreme Court ruling, permitting husbands to beat and punish their wives, as long as there were no physical marks.
It is great that the Emirates has chosen to celebrate the contributions of its women. But, if women truly "are integral to the success story of the UAE", as Gulf News claimed on Saturday, then why not fight to grant them ensure equal rights in the workplace and at home? Rather than superficial self-congratulation, why not hold a national occasion to ask what needs to be done to empower Emirati women going forward?
By Rosie Alfatlawi
