Reportorial Essay

Meryem Benslimane

Dr. Abderrahim Agnaou

English Composition I ( ENG 1301)

19 February 2012

Prostitution in the United Arab Emirates 

and 

Its Influence on Morocco’s Reputation

Last August, I turned eighteen, which means that I reached the age of puberty, and my awareness of the environment that I used to live in has increased. Previously, I had never understood why people in the United Arab Emirates treated me differently when they recognize my Moroccan nationality, but after a while, I discovered the shocking truth. The high rate of prostitution among the Moroccan girls in the Gulf countries represents a real face-threatening issue for Morocco as a country and indignation for me and the other Moroccans as guiltless immigrants. My goals behind choosing this sensitive topic are to provide the reader with more information about the main motives behind what makes Moroccan girls indulge prostitution as a profession in the UAE, to highlight why the Emiratis are also responsible of encouraging prostitution and to shed light on what effects this issue has on Morocco’s reputation.

Since ancient times, Morocco used to be known for its clinging to religion and its conservative families, but sometimes circumstances, such as poverty and need, push some people to do what ethics prevent them from doing. This is exactly what happens to some poor families, who find themselves compelled to send their girls to other countries to work and help them to overcome the difficulties of life. Although the awareness of these families to what lose they are sending the apple of their eyes, they pretend to be fine with that, and they do their best to suppress their ethics and get rid of the pressures of traditions and religion. Some lucky girls find good job opportunities, especially the highly qualified ones with university degrees, but others do not have any qualifications except their bodies and end up using them as a source of income. Another motive that pushes the Moroccan girls to work in the domain of prostitution is the great profits they get from each night of sex, and of course, these profits cannot be earned by working in any other domain. Additionally, some girls are not controlled by either ethics or family’s observation, so they take up prostitution as a profession just for the matter of pleasure.

The role of the Emiratis in encouraging Moroccan girls to take up prostitution as a profession lies in stimulating them with money and sometime false promises about marriage and stability. Furthermore, the power of these Emiratis is also important in terms of forcing the girls, especially the Moroccans, whom they think are easy to get, to obey and subject their sexual desires. The power used here is not only related to money, but also to the ability of Emiratis to destroy the stability of these Moroccan girls in the whole country, and a small phone call is more than enough to make these poor girls outside the borders of the country.  On the other hand, and to be fair, sometimes the Moroccan girls assume a paramount share of responsibility in stimulating men by using the former’s physical attractions. As I mentioned earlier, these girls are often compelled to do that in order to answer their own and their families’ needs.

The issue that really outrages me and horrifies me is the huge influence of prostitution on Morocco’s reputation. Some people in the United Arab Emirates stopped talking to me when they recognized that I was Moroccan; in addition, others were surprised when they knew that I wear the veil despite my Moroccan nationality. Furthermore, many wives do their best to prevent their husbands from traveling to Morocco, even for business, and this is due to their biased judgment about the widespread prostitution there.  Actually, I cannot say that this reputation emerged out of the blue, but what really hurts is that even good and pious girls are also included and put together within the deviant or “evil” category. The most suitable example for that case can be derived from the story of Marjane Satrapi “The Veil.” When Marji was in Vienna, and she reached the age of puberty, she changed her style of clothes and some of her attitudes, but unfortunately, once she has done that, people called her a prostitute (Satrapi 148).

To sum up, taking up prostitution as a profession in the United Arab Emirates has regrettably become a fashion, and this unethical catastrophe can be attributed to the high revenue girls can get from this profession. However, there are usually many motives and encouragements from Emiratis behind making any girl become a prostitute. The reputation of our country should not be ignored, as the harmful effects of prostitution do tarnish Morocco’s reputation. Actually, after all what I mentioned about how this profession has affected Moroccans negatively, I reached a point where I think ten times before saying my real nationality, and this is because of my worry of being misunderstood or misjudged.

Works Cited

Satrapi, Marjane. "The Veil." Fields of Reading: Motives for Writing. Ed. Comley. Nancy R.,

         et al. New York: St. Martin's, 2010. 148-155. Print.