According to Human Rights Watch, there is substantial discrimination against women in the United Arab Emirates. The status of women has improved over the years. UAE performs better on metrics of gender equality than many other states in the Gulf region, and it has been making reforms to protect women's rights and empower women in different sectors. Some critics argue that these reforms have limited impact in practice.
The Human Rights Watch (HRW) released a report in 2021 confirming that the UAE needs to put more effort into improving women's status in the UAE and achieving progress on women's rights. Emirati women live under male guardianship. Whereas men can marry multiple women and unilaterally divorce, women are required to obtain a court order to divorce their husband. Honor killings can go unpunished, as the victim's family can pardon the murderer. Marital rape is not criminalized in the UAE. The UAE is a major destination for sex trafficking.
Female members of the royal family have been subjects of abuse and restrictions by the male royalty. On 5 March 2020, a British court ruled that on the balance of probabilities, Sheikh Mohammed, the absolute ruler of Dubai and the prime minister of the UAE, had abducted two of his daughters, Shamsa and Latifa, and had threatened his former wife, the Jordanian princess Haya bint Hussein. Allegedly, Shamsa and Latifa were forcibly medicated while held in Dubai under Sheikh Mohammed's orders since 2000 and 2018, respectively. On 16 February 2021, BBC's Panorama broadcast a documentary featuring Sheikha Latifa's video messages that she made secretly under enforced detention in Dubai on the orders of Sheikh Mohammed.
History The role of women in society in the lands which comprised modern-day UAE has gradually expanded since the discovery of oil. Before 1960, there were few opportunities for them outside the realm of home and family. In the early 1990s, there were five women's societies promoting various issues of importance to women, including literacy and health.
In 2002, the government created an official business networking system for women in order to overcome the lack of networking between them. There are currently 12,000 members with over $6.81 billion (USD) in investment capital. In its 2015 assessment, The CEDAW Committee made many recommendations to the UAE on initiatives needed to safeguard women's equality. The CEDAW Committee is a group of impartial specialists that oversees the application of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women, consisting of 23 international specialists on women's rights. Therefore, the UAE took action in response by including the removal of laws that required women to "obey" their husbands, the explicit affirmation of a man's legal right to discipline his wife and children, and the punishment of consensual extramarital sex. These laws forbid discrimination based on gender or sex.
Employment As of 2006, less than 20% of Emirati women were part of the national labor force.The Emirati Workforce Page 30 The UAE, according to a 2012 report by the International Monetary Fund (IMF), has the second lowest percentage of local women working in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). In 2008–2009, only 21% of Emirati women were part of the labor force. The UAE has the highest percentage of total female labor participation in the GCC (including expatriate women). In 2018, women constituted 28% of the total Emirati workforce, with 489 thousand women employed in the UAE. In 2019, 521 thousand women were employed in the UAE. The rate of female participation in the labor force in 2019 was 52.4% and rose to 57.5% in 2020 but is still lower than male participation, which was 92% in 2020.
In the UAE, women cover roughly 66% of jobs in the public sector. This is the highest proportion worldwide, and 30% of them are in senior leadership positions.
At the nine-year-old Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange, women constitute 43% of its investors while the city's businesswomen's association boasts 14,000 members."Women in the United Arab Emirates: A Portrait of Progress" (PDF). UAE Ministry of State and Federal National Council Affairs (June 2007). At the forefront of Emirati women in business is Sheikha Lubna bint Khalid bin Sultan al Qasimi, appointed Minister for Economy and Planning in November 2004 and subsequently promoted to her current post as Minister of Foreign Trade. Sheikha Lubna holds the distinction of being the first woman to hold a ministerial post in the country. Her efforts have led her to be rated within the Forbes Magazine's 100 Most Powerful Women."The 100 Most Powerful Women." Forbes (2007).
On July 27, 2025 Dubai Police Force made history, as it appointed Colonel Samira Abdullah Al Ali to be the first ever female brigadier.
Women's rights and gender equality Discrimination against women persists in the UAE. In the mid-2010s, YouTuber Hayla Ghazal used comedy to draw attention to gender disparities in the UAE and beyond.
Women's rights in the UAE came under heightened scrutiny after the emergence of videos of Sheikha Latifa, daughter of Dubai ruler Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, claiming she feared for her life as she was held hostage by her father since she tried to flee in 2018.
In 2019, the UAE came under fire for handing all its Gender Balance Index awards, which applaud efforts to reduce the gender gap within the government and promote equal opportunities, to men – these include the Best Personality Supporting Gender Balance, Best Federal Authority Supporting Gender Balance, and Best Gender Balance Initiative.
In the United Nations Development Program's 2020 Gender Inequality Index (GII), the UAE ranked first in the Gulf region and 18th out of 162 countries for gender equality after having ranked 26th globally in 2019. The World Economic Forum also ranked the UAE in 2020 second-best in the Middle East and North African (MENA) region for gender equality. In the World Economic Forum's annual Global Gender Gap Report, the UAE ranked 72 out of 153 countries in 2021, rising from 120 in 2020.
The Human Rights Watch (HRW) submitted on February 26, 2021, to the United Nations committee a report on the UAE's compliance with the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW). The report addressed articles 1, 2, 3, 6, 11, 12, 14, 15, and 16 of the CEDAW and it was founded on information covered in media reports and HRW publications, including "'I Already Bought you': Abuse and Exploitation of Female Migrant Domestic Workers in the United Arab Emirates" (Oct, 2014). In November 2021, Sir Peter Bottomley MP, Debbie Abrahams MP, and Helena Kennedy produced a report which revealed the facts around the lack of fundamental protection of women's rights in the UAE. The report named "Fact-Finding Report into the Treatment of British Women in the United Arab Emirates" showcased the stories of British women who have been falsely accused and left vulnerable to serious abuses of their rights by Emirati law.
Domestic workers Since the 1980s, the UAE has seen an increase in female migrants occupying roles of domestic workers. Generally, most domestic workers in the UAE are South Asian migrants, mainly from India, Indonesia, and the Philippines. However, recent trends have shown a rise in female domestic workers from Ethiopia and Kenya. On Oct. 22, 2014, the Human Rights Watch (HRW) published a 79-page report on the abuse of female domestic workers in the UAE. The report sheds light on the range of abuses against migrant domestic workers by UAE employers and recruiting agents. This includes the confiscation of passports, trafficking, physical abuse, failure to pay full wages, forcing workers to labor for long hours without time off, and the denial of proper living conditions and access to healthcare services. The Human Rights Watch said that Emirati law failed to protect the rights of domestic workers and left them exposed to abuse.
Law Women are unequal to men under the UAE law. Article 72 of the Law on Personal Status allows judges to determine if it is permissible for a married woman to leave the house and to work. Unlike the case of children of Emirati fathers, Emirati citizenship is not transmitted automatically to the children of Emirati women.
Some Emirati laws have been amended in women's favor. In 2016, the clause in Article 53.1 of the Penal Code recognizing that a husband has the right to discipline his wife was removed. Also, a line in Article 56.1 of the Law on Personal Status stating that a husband has the right to courteous obedience from his wife was removed in 2019. In 2020, Article 334 of the Penal Code punishing honor killings by a little as one month in jail was annulled. However, families of honor killing victims can waive their right to have the murderer punished in return for blood money (or none) in which case the murderer will be punished by 7 years.
Under Article 9 (1) of the Federal Decree-Law No. 10 of 2019 concerning Protection from Domestic Violence, anyone found guilty of domestic violence will face a maximum of six months in prison and/or a fine of up to Dh5,000 (about $1361). The law covers physical, emotional, sexual, and economic abuse.
Some of the women's rights under the Personal Status Law require the consent of a male guardian, who is often the husband or a male family member.
In Sep. 2020, the updated UAE Labour Law 8/1980 took effect, requiring equal pay for men and women who perform the same work or work of equal value. Under Emirati law, women are free to choose their jobs, although employers can ask for permission from a male guardian.
Pregnant women working in the private sector are entitled to 45 paid scheduled days of maternity leave. After returning to work, the Emirati law allows mothers an extra hour off per day for breastfeeding.
The UAE amended in Nov. 2020 Article 356 of the Penal Code, removing language that was used to punish consensual sex outside of marriage, but marriage certificates continue to be a requirement for obtaining birth certificates, which may affect migrant women and leave their children undocumented.
Women in the UAE are free to own property and acquire a mortgage, and a third (30%) of all Dubai real estate is owned by women.
UAE Gender Balance Council The UAE Gender Balance Council was founded in 2015 to implement the UAE's gender balance agenda. It is tasked with reducing the gender gap across all government sectors, improve the UAE's performance in global competitiveness reports on gender equality, achieving gender balance in decision-making positions, and launching initiatives that aim to improve gender balance across the UAE.
Business The UAE ranked first in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region in the economic participation of women in the World Bank's 2021 'Women, Business and the Law' report. The country also announced on March 15, 2021, a list of companies that must have at least one female board member, but by May 2021, only four of the 23 people holding these roles at firms on the UAE's two major stock exchanges were women. Fatma Hussain, for example, is the only female on the board of Dubai-based Aramex PJSC. But since the decision came to effect in early April, Emaar Properties PJSC, Du, Abu Dhabi National Oil Company for Distribution, and Dana Gas named women to their boards. Even with the new rules being made, gender inequality is still a major problem in our lives today. Women struggle with wage gaps, getting promotions, and even underrepresentation in positions, which can impact their careers as women in the business industry.
Businesswomen councils