A new campaign in Qatar is requesting that tourists and expats respect local customs and adhere to a modest dress code.
The "Reflect Your Respect" campaign originates from a grassroots effort to encourage all visitors to cover themselves from their shoulders to their knees.
Organizers are spreading the message on social media, on both Twitter and Instagram, and through leaflets handed out in the airport.
In 2012, the group launched the "One of Us" campaign with the same goal. Campaign spokeswoman Umm Abdullah told Doha News the name was changed after expats said they did not feel included in local society.
Appreciate the dress code campaign by @reflect_respect as being done respectfully and tastefully and for both genders pic.twitter.com/4GeHYW52hs— Amad (@amadshk) May 25, 2014
Three of the four examples in the graphics represent women, but the advice goes for men, too: “Both men and women should also avoid walking around in their swimming suits away from beaches or swimming pools." The leaflets state that "leggings are not pants."
The campaign is in response to a perceived increase in foreigners who are not respecting the local customs.
“The amount of immodest clothing is growing in public places, especially shopping malls. Such foreigner behavior conflicts with our traditions,” Nassar Al Maliki, the public relations chief for Qatar’s Islamic Culture Center, told Gulf News.
Here is how #Qatar expect visitors to dress: pic.twitter.com/j7c2kspICX via @reflect_respect— Randa HABIB (@RandaHabib) May 25, 2014