Ethics of having fun in Dubai

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This is more of a tangent than it is on-topic, but there's also the matter of how we define slavery.

Like for example I think most of us would consider most examples of medieval serfdom to be slavery (or at least difficult to differentiate from slavery), and yet in period it was never thought of as slavery and is rarely referred to as slavery today.

An economic structure can be quite enslaving before people feel comfortable explicitly calling it slavery, but also people are generally more comfortable applying negatively loaded labels onto things other people do, rather than things they're personally connected to.

"Modern slavery" or "slavery in the 21st century" is in some ways very different from the kind of slavery that existed existed before slavery (or "involuntary servitude") was (mostly) outlawed by many countries back in the 19th century. Back then, slavery was supported and enforced by governments. These days it is (mostly) illegal, hence (mostly) hidden. Exact definitions of "modern slavery" vary, but the general idea, as defined by today's anti-slavery organizations, is fairly consistent.

On the website of Anti-Slavery International:

- What is modern slavery?
- Spot the signs of slavery
- Frequently asked questions

See also, on the website of another organization, Free the Slaves:

- Modern Slavery: A Comprehensive Exploration
- Slavery Around the World

And see also the Wikipedia article on Slavery in the 21st century.

One could, of course, argue that most forms of labor in a capitalist economy constitute "wage slavery." But the levels of coercion and exploitation in the kinds of situations that the anti-slavery orgs focus on go well beyond ordinary "wage slavery."

Last edited by Mona Pereth on 23 Feb 2026, 10:30 pm, edited 1 time in total.

The following section of Anti-Slavery International's FAQ page is especially relevant to the current thread:

Also, as I noted here, there are quite a few people calling for boycotts against the UAE for a wide variety of other reasons having little or nothing to do with the slavery issue. So, simply boycotting travel to Dubai (if you can afford to travel there in the first place) does not send a clear message. To make it a meaningful form of protest, you would also need to write a letter to your local UAE embassy, or something, explaining why you refuse to travel to Dubai, to set your own concerns apart from those of all the other people who are boycotting the UAE for one reason or another.

and, in a subsequent post:


Here in the U.S.A. at least, there is a long history of professional Islamophobes and anti-Arab bigots whipping up frenzies about bad things happening in Muslim and/or Arab countries, for the purposes of:

(a) opposing immigration from Muslim and/or Arab countries,
(b) restricting the freedom of American Muslims to build mosques, cultural centers, etc., and/or
(c) opposing any attempt to accommodate Muslims and/or Arabs in New York City's public school system, such as by serving Halal food (similar to the way the kosher food is already served in neighborhoods with a lot of Jewish students) or by having a bilingual school for Arab-American students (similar to bilingual schools that exist for students of other immigrant backgrounds).

Such bigoted frenzies were especially common during the decade after 9/11/2001.

As a person with a history of protesting this kind of bigotry, I'm inclined to be wary of anyone advocating a boycott of an Arab country as their sole or primary way to take a stand against a worldwide problem.

Last edited by Mona Pereth on 24 Feb 2026, 1:45 am, edited 1 time in total.

In Australia under new legislation
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-01-16/ ... /106231326

You can now be arrested and charged for even voicing any of the above ^^^.

Of the countries you listed, only 2 are stable hubs for international business and holiday/tourism
Türkiye
USA
Slavery in the above relates only to sex trafficking. Türkiye women trafficked from eastern Europe, and in USA mostly Latin American.
India, China and Russia do get tourists but all 3 have bad reputations for different reasons
India - public health, scamming, dangerous for women
China - Visa hassles, language barriers, no social media and weird internet and payment issues
Russia - having a war, boycotted by everyone and arresting anyone off the street

All the other countries are no go zones

No, modern slavery in the USA is NOT limited to sex trafficking. See Modern slavery in the United States and key findings on the website of Walk Free.

In fact, alas, modern slavery in the U.S.A. has a lot of resemblances to what you've said about Dubai (except for being less prevalent per-capita here). For example, according to the above-linked page:


and:


Additionally, forced labor is allowed in the prison system, and we have, alas, the world's highest prison population.

I don't see a single person in America complaining.

There are plenty of people here in the U.S.A who complain about both our prison-system itself and our over-reliance on it.

Some random examples on the web:

- Equal Justice Initiative
- The Sentencing Project: "The Sentencing Project advocates for effective and humane responses to crime that minimize imprisonment and criminalization of youth and adults by promoting racial, ethnic, economic, and gender justice"
- FAMM (Families Against Mandatory Minimums)
- Wikipedia page on Criminal justice reform in the United States

And, regarding the exploitative private prison system, in particular:

- NAACP Opposes the For-Profit Prison Industry and Abolish Private Prisons on the NAACP site (after you click to close the ads that come up initially)
- Private Prisons on the ACLU site (you'll have to click to close an ad here too)
- Abolish private prisons -- a website devoted to that issue
- New York To Become First State to be Completely Done With Private Prisons, June 18, 2019, on the website of former New York State Senator Brian Benjamin.

Some more examples of opposition to mass incarceration here in the U.S.A.:

- Vera Institute
- Prison Policy Initiative

Mass incarceration is (ironically) not a problem for most Americans. They would like to see
1. a) more prosecutions
b) lowering age of incarceration
c) reducing probations (to protect communities)
d) Increasing numbers in jail and having more jails

2. In addition undocumented migrants caught as victims of human trafficking or forced labour sent back/deported (not given green cards).

So the comparison with Dubai is not quite the same.

!	Cornflake wrote:
	Several argumentative and off topic posts have been removed. Please take those, and particularly the lengthy hostile put-downs, somewhere else.