Lox, you say you lived for a year in a Muslim country and were treated with much respect. Have you ever thought how different that year may have been had you been a woman?

I worked for around 10 years in Harley Street, London. Our patients were about 90% Muslim. In those days there were hardly any hospitals in The Middle East and so patients were sent over en masse to London, New York, all over the world, for treatment, but London was one of the major places.

I dealt with thousands of Arab patients, dealt with their Embassies too on a personal level.

As a woman I have to say that many of the male patients, interpreters and Embassy staff treated me with disdain and some were blatantly sexual in their behaviour towards me, one patient finding himself on the other side of the room after he'd dared to touch my body.

There are many Muslim men who have a foul opinion of Western women. There are many who are also foul to their wives too. How do I know? Because we used to see these poor lassies when they'd turn up for treatment for their sick hearts...and their horror stories would pour out to the doctor, through their female interpreters.

I always maintained the maximum aloofness, expecting the utmost respect from ALL of our male patients. In no way whatsoever did I ever encourage them sexually, or flirt with any of them, or any of the male interpreters. Amongst the 'good guys' on the Street, I was respected and looked after.

When I had to go to The Saudi Health Office, at the top of Harley Street, to discuss the huge unpaid bills, I was nervous, to be honest.
It was Ramadan..tempers were short. Each time a patient was seen by a doctor he gave us an official pink form. This was returned when we submitted the accounts on a monthly basis. Without this we were told we would not be paid. I refused to return the original copies, as way too many had mysteriously 'disappeared' once they'd reached The Saudi Health Office....so I always sent photocopies.

So, this time I was summoned to explain why I was no longer sending in the original forms. I went up there, armed with a huge folder of pink forms, the orginials. I sat down and showed them to the accounts section, who blatantly denied that any of these forms, or patients, were real.

I was then told the Chief Accountant wanted to see me. The whole place was filled with men. One of them I knew. Bassim was an interpreter, a really decent guy and he saw me there. He whispered to me that he'd go with me to the Chief Accountant's Office and he'd be right outside, should I need him.

I walked into that office and was looked up and down, as if I were a piece of meat. The smarmy bastard behind the desk looked at the patients, the bills, the tens of thousands of pounds his embassy owed my doctor.

Then, he closed his file.

He stared at me and said "You show me some honey, and I'll show you some money."

I told him where he could stick his honey...then went outside to Bassim, who escorted me out of the building.

I was shaking when I got back, so threatened had I felt. My doctor was a brilliant surgeon but utterly hopeless with people and he refused to make an official complaint.

Years later, that same Chief Accountant came to see me again. This time I was working for a Cardiologist and Cardiothoracic Surgeon. I told the Cardiologist what had happened years back and he listened intently. I showed the patient in. 30 minutes later my doctor came out and asked me to write a report for this man. He told me that the Embassy wanted to send him back to Saudi, after allegations had been made about corruption within the Health Office, and he, the patient, was worried about the condition of his heart, saying he was too ill to return home.

Dr. Spurrell smiled at the man, then told him to take a seat outside while he dictated a report to me. The report stated that the patient's heart was in very good health and therefore he could return home as soon as it could be arranged.

Justice sometimes takes a while to swing into action.

I have to say that I was treated with great respect by many of our Muslim patients and by many of the interpreters too. It was no less than I deserved.

I also have to say that at no time did any of our non-Muslim patients ever treat me in a disparaging, overtly sexual way, nor look down on me as being lower than a camel.

Whether you like it or not there is a huge problem with the way many Muslim men treat women, not only Western women, but often their own wives, sisters, even mothers. They are spoilt rotten as children, and are taught that men are the superior species.

Until the women of the Middle East rise together and say "ENOUGH!" this will sadly never change. Until you see an equal amount of women on the streets of the Middle East, in the shops, mosques and everywhere else, this will never change. Until the majority of Muslim fathers thanks Allah for the birth of their daughters in the same way he does for his sons, this will never change.

I spent too many years with Princesses and Peasants alike taking refuge in our office, because they'd not mix with the men in the waiting room, or being told to keep myself out of sight, when the Ruler of Oman came calling, as he didn't want to see women around...

Fuck that, I made damn sure I kept wandering, slowly, across the waiting room when he was around..looked him straight in his bad-tempered eye too...

I also have presents from dear and much liked patients. My Hermes scarf from Sheikh Assaf with the scarab on it still sits in my drawer to this day...lovely memoroies of an intelligent and respectful man who adored his wife and daughters.

Muslims & Misogynists are sadly bound together at the moment. It is up to the Good Muslims to shout out about this appalling outlook and to rectify it as soon as they are able.


And before you blow a gasket, Lox...I'd also like to add that I watched 'My Big Fat Gypsy Wedding' recently and there too, within the Gypsy Culture lies Misogyny, bigtime...The young men, when asked if they thought men and women were to be valued in the same way looked astounded. Women are second class you see...their lives are ones of housework and raising the children, little else. If they get divorced they are never allowed to re-marry, if they want to stay within in the community...They are 'grabbed' by the young lads who want to show they're interested in them, which means the men can touch the most intimate parts of their bodies, chase them, force themselves on them, all in the name of 'men's right's' don't ya know...

To deny that some cultures have an appalling attitude to women is ridiculous. It does not mean that ALL within that culture behave or believe in this way, but it does mean that the Good Guys need to make their voices heard as never before to stamp out misogyny, wherever it may be found...and to have the guts to admit that some things within their culture are fundamentally wrong.