Sharia Alert from modern, moderate Dubai. By Diala Saadeh for Reuters, with thanks to Writer Mom:
DUBAI (Reuters Life!) – For the comfort of Muslim women who do not wish to ride taxis with men, Dubai is now offering pink-coloured cabs with a female driver.
“Ladies Taxis” are the latest fad in the booming city, a business, tourism and commercial hub for more than 203 nationalities.
“Our society is conservative and our women do not want to ride with men alone at night or when they arrive at the airport at two or three in the morning,” Ammar Bin Tamim, director of Dubai Taxi, told Reuters.
“We decided to operate this service after complaints from women who did not want to ride with men, especially at night.”
Fifty women-only cabs operate in Dubai. Outside Dubai airport’s arrivals terminal, the busiest in the Middle East, women drivers wearing white headscarves and pink hats wait in their pink and beige cabs in line for their female-only customers.
A policeman at the airport taxi stand directs women to hop into a pink cab, and men to the red-topped cars.