Emiratis target 'masculine women'

The UAE government has launched a campaign against what it describes as masculine behaviour among women.

Under the slogan "excuse me I am a girl", it has launched a series of workshops, lectures and TV programmes. The aim, the UAE authorities say, is to help women avoid what is seen as "delinquent behaviour".

That is how the social affairs ministry in the emirates describes what would in some other societies be known as homosexuality or transvestitism.



Officials from the ministry told the local press that "masculine behaviour" among young girls was first spotted in special care homes.

There were no studies available that describe the extent of the phenomenon in the rest of the Emirati society, they said, but it is believed to be common in girls' schools.

Officially, Arab societies view heterosexuality as the publicly accepted norm, and all other forms of sexuality or sexual conduct are regarded as deviant or abnormal.