Dubai: Holding your car key in your hand when walking out of a building at night. Crossing the road when you see a group of men walking towards you. Being hypervigilant of your surroundings. Asking each other if you arrived home safely, after an evening out.Navigating an urban environment as a woman isn’t for the faint of heart – it requires you to be switched on, prepared, and always alert. It can be exhausting.That is, until you move to Dubai – where safety is the norm, and where, finally, women can let their guard down.Just ask Jennah-Louise, a 37-year-old Australian who has lived in Dubai for nearly three years. She made the UAE her home after living in seven different countries.She said: “In having travelled to approximately 50 countries solo, I am well experienced and understand the foundation of what safety is not – having had an attempted kidnapping and attempted drugging experience – and what safety is, and feels like.”For the ultramarathon runner, Dubai and the UAE in general, far surpass any other country she has visited or lived in, when it comes to the standard of safety for women. She said: “I wake early, at times when it is still dark, to train. I experience a deep sense of freedom whether in the city of Dubai or the mountains of Jebel Jais. Unfortunately, in other countries I am no longer able to do this, having experienced several threatening situations.” Jennah-Louise made the UAE her home after living in seven different countries, including Kenya, Tunisia and Turkey. Picture credit: SuppliedWomen versus the worldWomen’s safety is a universal concern. Decades of research has shown that women, on average, scan environments more actively for potential risks and report higher levels of perceived danger in public spaces than men.A March 2024 study, published in the US-based journal Violence and Gender, involved 571 college students across four American university campuses. The study used heat maps to track where participants focused their attention when imagining a walk alone. The results were striking: men predominantly focused on the walking path ahead, while women consistently focused on areas outside the path – bushes, shadows and dark corners.Heightened vigilance and social threat assessments are part of daily life for women, whether they live in an urban city or in a rural village.But constant environmental scanning and low-level caution can take a real toll on women’s cognitive state, leading to headaches, muscle tension, and in more serious cases, insomnia, anxiety, and depression, according to an April 2023 study published in the UK-based journal BioMed Central Women’s Health.How the UAE flips the scriptSo, what happens when you press the ‘off’ switch, on all that noise? Women living in Dubai and the UAE say they’re fortunate enough to do this, every day.The country consistently ranks as one of the safest globally, for women and solo female travellers. In 2021, the US-based Georgetown University’s Women, Peace and Security Index revealed that the UAE ranked first in terms of community safety, with 98.5% of women saying they felt safe walking alone in their neighbourhoods at night.The UAE also has robust laws that protect women, such as zero-tolerance legal framework for verbal or physical harassment, public decency laws, and strict photography regulations, where taking pictures of strangers without explicit consent is illegal.Services and amenities like Pink Taxis, operated by female drivers, dedicated ‘women and children’ cabins in public transport, like the Dubai Metro, and around-the-clock police support, all go a long way in helping women feel secure as they go about their day.The adjustment can feel strange for someone moving to the UAE from a relatively unsafe environment – from constantly scanning for threats, to leaving your purse unattended on a café table, knowing you will find it exactly where you left it.Jennah-Louise said the impact is palpable: “Interestingly, I have become more feminine and my nervous system has had the space to become nourished, rather than drained. When women do not feel safe, they more often than not go into their masculine energy, which is unnatural and can manifest in physical symptoms of sickness. A sense of threat also turns off the pre-frontal cortex in decision-making, influencing decisions to be from a place of survival rather than truth. In a fascinating way, I’ve become more authentic living in the UAE; more capacity to focus on me expanding my potential rather than protecting it.”A safe space to thriveWomen who have grown up here are used to it. In the UAE, safety for women is a basic standard, not an aspirational goal.Deepti Khanna, a 40-year-old Indian national, has lived in Dubai her whole life, and said it’s easy to forget the city’s level of safety and security is not normal for other parts of the world: “There isn’t one defining moment that makes me realise how safe Dubai is. It’s the little things that have added up over the years: seeing women comfortably go out on their own at all hours, hearing stories of lost wallets and phones being returned, and simply feeling at ease wherever I go. That feeling of safety quietly becomes part of your everyday life. You almost forget it’s unusual until you travel elsewhere and realise not everyone experiences that same peace of mind. That’s when you truly appreciate what Dubai offers.”Deepti Khanna said she has always felt encouraged to dream bigger and pursue her ambitions in Dubai. Picture credit: SuppliedAside from physical safety, the UAE is a place where women feel assured enough to stop assessing threats, and look forward – both personally and professionally.Khanna is an entrepreneur, with her own fashion business, Color Story by Dee. She said: “I’ve always felt respected in the UAE, both as a woman and as an entrepreneur. Building my own fashion brand here, I’ve never felt that being a woman held me back or closed doors for me. If anything, I’ve always felt encouraged to dream bigger and pursue my ambitions. What I find especially inspiring is seeing so many women in leadership roles, whether they’re running businesses, leading government initiatives, or holding senior roles across different industries. It sends a powerful message to young girls that there really isn’t a limit to what they can achieve.”Shifa Khaliq, a 27-year-old Pakistani national, experienced this first-hand.The Dubai resident, who grew up in the city with a passion for baking, said the city, which always encourages ambition and dreams, allowed her to experiment, make mistakes, and learn lessons – experiences that culminated in her entrepreneurial venture, a homegrown bakery called Crumb Café.She said: “I think when I travel abroad, that’s when I realise the extent of how different it feels in Dubai.” When women feel safe and nurtured, they’re able to not just plant roots, but spread their wings, she added.Reem Al Najjar, a 38-year-old Palestinian marketing professional in Dubai, also grew up in the city, and said she has always noticed women treated uniquely in the country: “We aren’t just given a safe space, we’re respected and cherished. Even when it comes to work, women are on an equal footing with men, and are offered the same education and opportunities. These things matter. They make us feel seen.”Raising girls in the cityBut adult women navigating an urban landscape is one thing – sending your teenage daughter out into the real world is a whole other minefield.For Indian national Ekta Alreja, 41, safety isn’t just about proper systems in place, and confidence in the rule of law: “It’s not just about crime rates. It’s about peace of mind. It means I can focus at work without constantly worrying that something may happen at home while my daughter is alone. I do not have the fear that someone will break in or that she may not be safe. Feeling safe is a necessity. It should never feel like a luxury.”For Ekta Alreja, safety isn't just about crime rates, it's about peace of mind. Picture credit: SuppliedAlreja, who works as head of content and communications at a culinary school in Dubai, hails from New Delhi. She said: “Back home, going out late at night was never really an option. I would avoid public transport. Even in spaces meant for women, like the ladies coach in the metro, you still had to stay alert. There was always this underlying fear that something could happen. Over time, that fear becomes a part of your everyday life. I was always stressed, always rushing home, always worrying about reaching my daughter on time so she would not be alone for too long.”That state of hypervigilance disappeared when she moved to Dubai with her family. Her 13-year-old daughter is growing up in a completely different environment than the one she had to navigate.Alreja said: “She is growing up without me constantly watching her back, and that matters a lot to me. I am glad that she can hang out with her friends at the mall without me constantly following her, dropping her everywhere, or worrying every minute. She can walk there alone. She can experience independence in a way I never could at her age. I also feel this has made her more responsible. She is learning to take care of her belongings, communicate with us, call us if she is getting late, and understand that independence comes with accountability. As a mother, I find this significant.”The safety that women and girls seek everywhere, should be the baseline for societies, according to Alreja. It’s what helps women move from a survival mindset to a growth mindset, where they are comfortable, confident and able to thrive. Alreja said: “When young girls grow up feeling safe, they are not using all their energy to protect themselves. They can use that energy to learn, explore, grow, and become confident.”Deepti Khanna said it’s why the UAE is a top choice for women and mothers from around the world.As the mother of an eight-year-old girl, she added: “Raising a child is filled with countless worries, but in Dubai, her safety isn’t one of them. That peace of mind allows us to focus on helping her grow into a confident, independent young girl instead of constantly looking over our shoulder. As a mother, I think that’s one of the greatest gifts a city can give a family.”
