The Dark Side

I've realised that Oman may sound like a lot of fun in the sun so far, so I wanted you to know that it's not just a paradise idyll - there are some pretty controversial issues in the Gulf in general, some of which affect Oman in particular. Plenty of other people have written informative blogs about these subjects, so here are links to a few of those that I've found informative, and sometimes frankly shocking ...

1. Human trafficking

There are many thousands of immigrant workers in Oman and throughout the Gulf doing the more menial jobs that locals don't want to do - in fact, I've heard that Oman is almost the only country where Omanis are still the majority. While many of them are here out of choice and managing to support entire extended families back home on the wages they get here, there definitely seems to be a much darker side to local immigration;

http://thelinoleumsurfer.blogspot.com/2011/06/housemaids-declared-human.html

http://www.traffickingproject.org/2008/06/gulf-states-condemn-us-human.html

2. Women's rights

Now, I have to say that Saudi Arabia stands out as by far the most conservative country in the region in terms of women's rights and equality of opportunity. Women in Oman have equality in theory at least, and are very slowly beginning to make inroads into public life, although traditional male domination prevails. On the other hand, Saudi women are having to struggle for even the most basic rights, and being able to drive has been taken up recently as one small but significant battle in the long uphill struggle to equality;

http://saudiwriter.blogspot.com/2011/05/some-saudis-promote-violence-against.html

http://saudiwriter.blogspot.com/2011/06/lingerie-shop-jobs-for-women-hollow.html

http://www.familylaw-khaleej.org/en/news/women%E2%80%99s-rights-inch-forward-in-me.html

3. Female Circumcision

I had no idea that this was practised at all in the region until I read the blog below, and to find out that the majority of women in Dhofar (in the south of Oman) are subjected to this horrific mutilation was a massive eye-opener - especially when it has been decreed un-Islamic by the highest authorities in the Islamic world;

http://thelinoleumsurfer.blogspot.com/2011/06/save-clitoris.html

http://howtolivelikeanomaniprincess.blogspot.com/2010/08/female-circumcision-in-oman.html

Not happy reading, but I think it's important to know about the good and the bad in all of us ...