Dubai, sex and the law

Dubai, sex and the law

A British woman has been arrested for illegal sex and drinking in Dubai after she reported a rape.

January 10, 2010 1:26 by kippreport

British nationals, Dubai and sex scandals: those three terms have seen a lot of each other in recent months. The latest is the case of a 23-year-old British woman who was reportedly arrested for having illegal sex with her fiancé after she went to register a rape charge in Dubai.

The woman claimed a waiter at The Address hotel in Dubai Marina attacked her shortly after she celebrated her engagement to her 44-year-old fiancé.

Police confirmed that the woman reported rape charges on January 1, and said that another case was filed against her and her fiancé for illegal drinking and sex. “The woman confessed that she had sexual intercourse with her fiancé and that she had alcohol. We cannot just ignore such an offence,” Major Abdul al-Kadi al-Banni, director of the Jebel Ali police station told The National.

Meanwhile, she has apparently been asked to get married and drop the rape allegations if she wants to leave the country, according to UK tabloid The Sun. “I always dreamed of a big family wedding in Britain, but now I just want to get married so I can get out of here,” the paper quotes her as telling some friends. “I’ve done nothing wrong but I’m petrified of rotting in jail,” she said.

“They’re putting pressure on her to drop the rape allegations and are more interested in her conduct as a woman than in the rapist,” her brother told the newspaper.

A recent survey by YouGov Siraj found that a majority of women in the UAE would refrain from reporting a rape. While 55 percent of the female respondents said that they were worried about their families’ or their own reputations, 49 percent said that they fear being “unjustly accused of immoral behavior.”

The latest British woman’s case would seem to justify that view.

Tags: arrested, British woman, Dubai, illegal sex, law, rape, sex scandals

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4 Comments

samira on January 11, 2010 8:02 am

Whether she was drunk married, single, Muslim or not, this poor woman was raped. What kind of message are we sending to other victims by treating her this way.

What sort of justice locks a rape victim but acquits a torturer caught on tape.
Rights anyone? on January 11, 2010 8:22 am

@ Samira, To answer your question (your last sentence of comment :- Exactly the kind of justice that acquits a member of the Abu Dhabi Royal family even after being caught on tape mercilessly assaulting an Afghan businessman while the victim & his brothers are penalised!

Exactly the kind of justice that torments & drives away an Emirati Woman from her own copuntry,who was fighting for Human Rights of women who were similar victim-s as well as housemaids (Did u watch The Doha Debates on BBC 2 days ago?)
peris weber on January 11, 2010 9:21 am

I have lived in Dubai for ten years. In all honesty, despite its ‘rise’ and current ‘fall’, nothing has changed in regards to local mind sets and the outdated, backwards and plain stupidity of the laws here. Forget mass tourism, people will be too put off by this in the current climate to think Dubai has anything to offer. There’s sun and tax free money elsewhere in the world. Does Dubai Care? Not really – obviously.
justin on February 10, 2010 7:16 pm

To day we see a lot of unjust in the country.
A person i personal know and is still in the
middle east Abu Dhabi, is facing problems with his job He is a Graphic Designer ,is working for a place in Abu Dhabi, Ha sent got his salary for 9mts , approached the labor Ministry and the Judgment was so unfair ,i don’t see why they don’t shut down such places and never give them
a approval to do any Business in this Country as they are spoiling the
Good Name of this country. this person only got half the money and he lives with his family. Do you think its fair, when they say they will help us
if we inform them ,this is the reason they abscond from work, can you blame the for such a Acton i say they are innocent because they haven’t got their rightful dues