Yemen | Culture, Etiquette and Customs

The Basics

Greetings

Man greeting Man - Men usually greet one another with a light handshake. Handshakes may linger and sometime lead into hand holding. This is purely a sign of friendship.

Woman greeting Woman - Women greet each other in a similar manner to men. Handshakes are the common.

Greetings between Men & Women - There is little to no touching between men and women during greetings in public. Women may extend a sleeve-covered wrist or hand to be shaken. Always wait for the woman to initiate, if at all.

Communication Style

Yemenis tend to favor an indirect style of communication over a direct style. Avoiding confrontation and saving face is important.
As a foreigner it is a good idea to come across as polite and respectful. This can be achieved by speaking in a calm relaxed tone and listening intently.

Personal Space & Touch

The acceptable amount of personal space depends greatly on who you are interacting with. Between members if the same gender much less than an arms length apart common. Between members if the opposite sex, more than arm’s length apart is common.
There is a fair amount of touching between men and men and women and women. It is common to see men holding hands as well as women, as it is a sign of close friendship.
There is usually no touching between men and women in public places.
Public displays of affection between genders such as hugging, kissing, etc., are usually looked down upon heavily.

Eye Contact

Yemeni's tend to favor direct eye contact in conversations; especially between members of the same gender.
While staring is not considered rude or an invasion if privacy, it is best for foreign men to avoid staring directly into the eyes of a Yemeni woman. The same goes for foreign women and Yemeni men.
Women will often avoid direct eye contact with men in public. This may even be the case with men they know.

Views of Time

While punctuality is appreciated, personal relationships tend to take precedence over schedules and deadlines.
Things tend to move at a much slower pace than they do in most Western countries. This is the case in both business and social situations.

Gender Roles

Yemen is very much a male-dominated society. It is rare that men and women are seen alone together as public displays of intimacy are forbidden.
Mixed gender activities almost always take place with other people present.
It is best for women to keep their arms, legs, and heads covered and avoid tight fitting revealing clothing.
Men are considered superior to women in most all aspects of life. They tend to dominate the workplace as very few women are educated. While some things are gradually starting to change, it is rare to see women in positions of power.

Law & Order

Penalties for breaking the law can severe. Persons violating Yemeni laws, even unknowingly, may be expelled, arrested, or imprisoned. Penalties for possession or use, or trafficking in illegal drugs are severe, and convicted offenders can expect long jail sentences and heavy fines.

In Business

Dress

For men, suits in lightweight fabrics or combining trousers with long or short-sleeved shirts and a tie are appropriate. Business casual dress is suitable, i.e., shirt and trousers, without a necktie. For more formal meetings, a suit and tie is preferable.
For women, dresses of lightweight fabric and blouses are considered appropriate as long as they cover most of the body.
Most local women wear a headscarf along with a long black robe that completely covers the body. Some women even wear the veil.
Even though foreign women are not expected to follow this dress code, it is nevertheless recommended that clothing that covers the arms (a loose blouse or a jacket) and legs (a long skirt, or preferably, slacks) be worn. Nothing too form-fitting or low-necked should be worn. Long hair should be worn up, to provide more modesty.
Official events require formal business attire (i.e. full business suit).
Avoid wearing any kind of revealing clothing, such as shorts, Bermuda shorts, or camisoles in public..

Titles & Business Cards

Colleagues are generally addressed by their first name. A more formal approach is used with a superior.
When addressing supervisors/managers it is common to use the prefix of Mr./Ms. along with either the first or last name of the individual. Depending on where you will be working certain titles may be used as well as a sign of respect. These include “Sheikh” and “Excellency”. Usually when dealing with senior government officials using the term Excellency is recommended. Sheikh is generally used to address senior or wealthy individuals.
Yemenites respect titles and positions of authority very much. When in doubt, avoid familiarity in a work-related setting.

Negotiations

Decisions are usually taken by certain superiors/managers and work their way down.

Gift Giving

Gifts should only be given to the most intimate of friends. To receive a present from a lesser acquaintance is so embarrassing as to be offensive. Even worse is expressing admiration for something belonging to another because it makes him feel obliged to make a gift of it. If one is confident enough and determined to give a gift, that gift must be of the best quality one can afford. A carpet must, for example, be handmade. Never, however, buy gold jewelery or silk garments for men, as both are considered effeminate in Islam. Platinum is acceptable but, as it can be confused with white gold, silver is safer. Extravagant gifts, such as motorcars, will be preceved to be bribes. Bribery is more common in Yemen than elsewhere in Arabia. Owing to the extremely personal nature of giving gifts (outside of gifts given as bribes) traditional perfume is usually the most appreciated. Just as in Europe a man displays his status by his tailoring, so in Arabia he does so by his scent. The most generally preferred male scent (perfume should be given to women only by other women or close relatives) is oud, which is a distillation of aloes wood, but be careful. The best quality costs well over $1,000 an ounce and the naive buyer can easily be deceived by synthetics which cheat him of his money and cause him to forfeit the esteem of the one to whom the scent is given. The same is true of incense, costing per kilogram roughly the same as an ounce of its extract. Before giving any scent, use it first and consider giving it only to those who express admiration for your taste. As Aden is the traditional center of Arab perfumery and incense, a visitor to the Yemen is well placed to acquire the finest available anywhere. Conveniently for the westerner, the British influence in Aden makes it the one place in the Yemen where English is widely spoken enough not to require a knowledge of Arabic for day-to-day purposes (English speakers elsewhere in the Yemen are almost always of Adeni origin). Much of the Adeni merchant class consists of ethnic Indians. South Yemen (albeit the Hadhramaut instead of Aden itself) also produces the world's best of two other commodities, raw tobacco (for smoking in a sheesha) and honey. A word of caution to true lovers of honey, however, Hadramaut honey is expensive (up to $100 per kg) but, once tasted, it will spoil you for any of lesser quality.

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