Tag: UAE

In the United Arab Emirates (UAE), an 18 year old Muslim woman “LH” has been charged with the “crime” of consensual sex, after claiming that she was raped by 6 men.  In the UAE, if a Muslim woman is found guilty of the crime of consensual sex, according to the UAE newspaper “The National,” states that she would “face lashes and a maximum sentence of life in prison.”

“LH” went to file charges against 6 men for rape after being confronted and beaten by her brother for “talking to other men.”  “LH” has now withdrawn the charges of rape, after being charged with the criminal charge of “consensual sex.”   It is up to the court to decide whether to drop the criminal charge of “consensual sex,” or reduce the criminal charge to “deception” which carries a prison sentence of 6 months to two years.

The report by the National newspaper in UAE states that none of the charges have been dropped at this time.  The report describes court proceedings of a case where a man allegedly consensual sex with “LH,” then called five of his male friends to rape “LH.”  One of the accused rapists, a 19 year old man, laughed at “LH” as she pleaded with the judge to allow her to drop the rape charges.

See the complete news report by the National Newspaper.

The National newspaper also released an editorial on May 18, 2010 “Rape victims are not the criminals,” which stated that “The case is not unprecedented: when a woman reports rape or other abuse, she frequently finds herself in further trouble… More than half of the women who responded to a survey for The National earlier this year said they would not report a rape to police, not only out of shame but also out of distrust of the system itself.”

In January 2010, Responsible for Equality And Liberty (R.E.A.L.) reported on a 23 year old British Muslim woman who was raped and then charged with the crime of “illegal sex” and put in jail.  On April 21, 2010, the Daily Telegraph reported on the case of British woman Charlotte Adams who was convicted of the crime of “indecency” for giving someone a kiss on the cheek, and was sentenced to jail for one month and fined.

In March 2010, Epoch Times reported on the case of an Australia woman Amanda who was raped, and then was convicted of “adultery” and jailed for 12 months. The report quoted another National newspaper interview with a UK rape counselor that “there was ‘no bigger deterrent’ to coming forward to make a rape allegation than the fear of a potential prosecution.”  Human Rights Watch’s Nadya Khalife has criticized the UAE on its “shameful record on rape.”

According to the Association for Women’s Rights in Development (AWID), “some women’s rights advocates argue that as along as UAE legislates through a personal status code and gender discrimination is built into citizenship laws, women cannot have full rights.”   Time Out Dubai recently reported that only 25 percent of Emirati women work due to discrimination and social pressures against women in the workplace.

While women continue to live under such conditions in the UAE, on May 27, 2010, the U.S. film “Sex and the City 2” will be released in theaters.  The film’s story is written to take place UAE, but the UAE authorities would not allow filming of it in their country, and it had to be filmed in Morocco. The UAE is considering banning the film.

The Hollywood Reporter issued an initial review of the film as “anti-Muslim,” stating that the characters “run up against the puritanical and misogynistic culture of the Middle East.  The rather scathing portrayal of Muslim society no doubt will stir controversy, especially in a frothy summer entertainment, but there’s something bracing about the film’s saucy political incorrectness. Or is it politically correct? SATC 2 is at once proudly feminist and blatantly anti-Muslim, which means that it might confound liberal viewers.”

We would like to hear from Muslim readers on this topic.  Please email your comments at info@realcourage.org

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Responsible for Equality And Liberty (R.E.A.L.) calls for the support for our unqualified, universal human rights for woman and all people.  We urge all those who would defy such universal human rights, to choose instead to be responsible for equality and liberty.

Multiple press accounts report that a 23 year old British Muslim woman raped in the United Arab Emirate’s (UAE) Dubai was arrested and jailed for having “illegal sex.”  The Sun reports that UAE law “contain elements of Sharia law.”  In addition, the Khaleej Times reports how women fear reporting rape, for fear of being blamed and also due to death threats.

UAE: British Woman raped in Dubai charged for having illegal sex
— London Times reports: “A 23-year-old British woman who was raped while on holiday in Dubai now faces jail in the Gulf state for having illegal sex outside marriage.”
— “The young woman was attacked in the toilet of a hotel where she had had been drinking with her fiancé to celebrate their engagement during a holiday in Dubai over New Year’s Eve.”
— “When she reported the rape to police however, she and her 44-year-old boyfriend were jailed themselves for having sex outside marriage, which remains illegal under the emirate’s strict laws on decency. The couple were also charged with drinking illegally outside licensed premises.”
— “According to reports, Dubai police were more interested in questioning the woman about her drinking and sexual preferences than investigating her attack. It is claimed that standard procedure in alleged rape cases was not followed, although legal sources in Dubai dispute this. However, a blood test was taken to prove the woman had been drinking.”
— “The woman’s attacker, understood to be a Syrian waiter at the Address, has denied rape claiming sex was consensual. Instead, he has also been charged with illegal sex outside marriage. It is still unclear if the rape charge is being investigated at all by police.”

— The UK Sun reports: “unsympathetic cops immediately quizzed them about breaking the emirate’s severe decency rules, which contain elements of Sharia law.”
— “Medics were said to have shunned rape case procedures – but made sure they obtained a blood sample from the woman to prove she had been drinking.”
— “After being locked up, she told a cellmate she was terrified the rapist had made her pregnant or given her a sexually transmitted disease.”
— “She and her fiance spent several days behind bars before being freed.”
— “The cellmate, held for alleged cheque fraud, said: ‘She’s a British girl but a Muslim, so I think they were tougher on her because of that.’ ”

— The Guardian reports: “Police began to question the couple about breaking the emirate’s strict decency laws. Usual rape procedures were ignored and the woman was given a full medical check and a morning-after pill only after the intervention of British embassy staff, the paper reported.”

— The Khaleej Times reports: “Reputation Concerns Hold Back Women from Reporting Rape”
— “A recent survey regarding crimes against women in the UAE revealed that most residents would report a rape case to the police. Among those women who said they would not report rapes, a majority cited concern for their reputation and that of their family as the reason.”
— “The survey — YouGov Siraj’s lifestyle poll — which involved 980 men and women respondents and was released last week, said that 77 per cent would report an attempted rape or sexual assault.”
— “It also showed that of the women who said they would not report such a crime, 55 per cent were worried about their reputation. One in two also said they feared being judged by society or unjustly accused of immoral behaviour.”
— “Among Arab women, the official said there had been many cases of women who had been raped and assaulted by relatives or strangers and had approached the police for protection but would not report the abuse, fearing it would affect family honour.”
— “The official said men are exploiting such fears to commit crimes against women, knowing that the matter was unlikely to come to light, while ignoring that raping a woman is considered an attack against the values or ‘honour’ of a society.”
— “The official said men are exploiting such fears to commit crimes against women, knowing that the matter was unlikely to come to light, while ignoring that raping a woman is considered an attack against the values or ‘honour’ of a society.”
— ” ‘The society always blames woman for being raped, instead of punishing the man who did it,’ he said.”
— “However, some women also based their concern on physical threats.”
— ” ‘We had cases of women who did not report the crime, as they were threatened with death,’ he said.”