Qatar Urges Scantily Clad Tourists to Cover Up: 'Reflect Your Respect' for Qatari Culture, Say Locals
Qatar is urging any scantily clad tourists to cover up via a new campaign called "Reflect Your Respect," according to reports. The small Middle Eastern nation has had problems with locals becoming offended by visitors' garb, which doesn't always line up with their traditional culture norms of covering up, even in the very warm weather.
The Reflect Your Respect campaign asks tourists to refrain from any clothing that showcases skin from the knees to the shoulders, including sundresses, tank tops and halter tops, midriff t-shirts and blouses, and shorts. A Twitter and Instagram account have been created to spread the word, and women and girls will be handing out fliers demonstrating the proper style of dress on June 20, Doha News reported.
"If you are in Qatar, you are one of us. Help us preserve Qatar's culture and values," the campaign flier says. "Please dress modestly in public places."
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"For women: Acceptable work attire is dresses, trousers/skirts (below knee length), with a modest neck line, and no less than half-sleeve," the campaign's Twitter account, @reflect_respect, tweeted last week.
Nasser al-Maliki, the head of public relations for the Islamic Culture Centre, said immodest dressing is a divisive and growing issue. In some areas of the country, the booming tourism has coincided with less locals willing to venture into exhibits and busy public places.
"The amount of immodest clothing is growing in public places, especially shopping malls," al-Maliki told Gulf News. "Such foreign behavior conflicts with our traditions. We do not want our kids to be exposed to it or learn from it."
"They (expats) have their own places where they don't have to be covered — but we have the right to go to hospitals, to the market, to the malls, to the beach, without seeing these things," Umm Abdulla, a spokeswoman for the campaign, explained to Doha News.
The campaign also discourages very tight clothing, translucent clothing, any swimwear outside of pools or beaches and public intimacy.
The campaign will officially begin on June 20, when women will hand out leaflets along with chocolates, flowers and other small gifts to get the message across without sounding too authoritarian.
"The main point is to preserve the Qatari culture by dressing the right way. Qatar does not force any women to cover their entire body," their Twitter stated.
Qatar will be hosting the World Cup in 2022.
