DUBAI, 26 May 2008 — The Dubai Police, in coordination with the Ministry of Social Affairs, have launched an awareness campaign against cross-dressing by young people. The phenomenon of girls dressing and acting like the opposite sex and vice versa has increased among Emirati youth in high schools and colleges, especially during the past five years.
Launching the educational campaign, the Dubai Police Chief Lt. Gen. Dhahi Khalfan Tamim said that the phenomenon goes against the teachings of Islam. “What is happening among our youth is unnatural and is a result of lack of religious awareness,” he said.
Tamim blamed parents saying that they were failing in their duty toward their children because they did not spend enough time with them. “A lot of these teenagers turn to such deviant behavior to make up for the lack of parental attention,” he said, adding that some parents also contribute to such behavior by treating the boys better than the girls which results in girls hating their sex and so trying to act like boys. During the campaign, educational brochures will be distributed.
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. “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. It’s shocking but some girls think that by dressing and acting this way, they are rebelling and making a statement! What is also sad is other girls are copying them, thinking that it is a sign of being cool!” she said.
She pointed out 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.
Another social worker, Noura Ali, said that this behavior was a manifestation of the problems that UAE society is undergoing. “Do we know how many of these young people have been emotionally or sexually abused? Many of them are left in the unsupervised care of maids or even male drivers or gardeners,” she said.
Another teacher, who refused to give his name, recalled the case of two brothers who acted like girls. “When we asked to see their parents, we were shocked to hear that they were divorced and the boys did not even know what their mother looked like as she had left them when they were babies. The father, on the other hand, never bothered to come to school,” he said.
When we spoke to the boys about their father, we learned that he was busy with work or pursuing women. “It did not bother this man that his children were being raised by servants! His only responsibility was to make sure that they had a lot of money to spend!” he said.
