British woman 'arrested in Dubai after reporting rape'

[gluteustothemaximus]

www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-38013351

Just don't even know what to say to this

[ozymandiusking]

Allegedly the men who raped her were British, and have now left the country.
Absolutely disgraceful.

[WomanWithAltitude]

I don't know what the rape stats are like in Dubai, but I imagine that when women who live there are raped they know not to report it. [Sad]

[M0stlyHet]

Ozy I too had heard they were British, but were also being detained while the case was investigated and hadn't yet left the country.

[JenLindleyShitMom]

It would be impossible to have any true idea of the rape stats because of the law there. Women cannot report a rape without facing jail time themselves and even if they do it isn't considered rape so wouldn't be recorded as rape.

[VestalVirgin]

It would be impossible to have any true idea of the rape stats because of the law there.

Yes. As the saying goes, never trust statistics you haven't forged yourself ... I bet if they publish any statistics at all, they boast about having zero rape. Because, hey, no woman ever reports rape!

With countries where marital rape is perfectly legal, and all women are expected to marry, we can safely assume that a very high number of women is raped by their husbands and never turns up in any statistic.

[WomanWithAltitude]

Jesus wept. You're choosing to be finicky about that?

She wouldn't have been arrested had she not reported the rape. It's ridiculous to pretend the two things aren't linked.

[Xenophile]

He's a Chedder, can't be expected to have any respect for women.

[ThatsWotSheSaid]

If you were fully covered at home with your father and brother and someone broke in and grabbed you and you fought them so hard that you died trying to prevent it then you might be considered to have been raped. A women's virtue should be valued so highly that she would rather die than be raped so anything short of fighting them till they kill you means she probably wanted it.
It's like being in the dark ages, It makes our legal system seem enlightened.

[LastGirlOnTheLeft]

This is reason number 5498874 to detest men.

I am yet to come up with reason number 1 to like men...anyone care to help me out?

[YonicProbe]

Opening jars?

Honestly, many many men are lovely.

[YonicProbe]

Not banned yet, 147?

[FreshwaterSelkie]

well I certainly can't think of any good uses for you, user.

last, there are lovely men out there. I'm sorry you're feeling like there aren't.

[FreshwaterSelkie]

I've struggled to comment on this story as it hits a raw nerve for me. i lived in Dubai for a number of years for work, and i still go there soametimes to visit some dear friends who still live there.

I struggled to like the place, but to be honest, and I say this as a committed feminist, the sexism often paled in comparison with the naked, blatant racism. The caste system is alive and well there and the colour of your skin and your passport dictates everything about your life from where you live to where you work to who you socialise with to the shops you go to. For those at the bottom of the pile (manual labourers and domestic staff from the sub continent), life is horrendous. they're basically indentured. low wages, shit accommodation, high likelihood of abuse, exploitation, injury or even death.

as a white woman, it was also a sobering glimpse into what life is like when you don't end up at the top of the racial hierarchy (Emiratis are at the top). There is a real sense of vulnerability, and given the lack of rule of law and the arbitrary justice system, you are mortally terrified of pissing off the wrong person and ending up in jail. I had friends arrested because their landlord had done a bunk with their rent money. 2 days in jail while they sorted that out. another friend was arrested by the drug squad as her mother had sent her a scented pine needle stuffed pillow from america and they assumed it was drugs. fortunately her husband speaks arabic and was able to sort the situation out before n it escalated.

the final straw that tipped me over into "i can't live here any more" was when the norwegian woman was sent to jail for being raped in 2013. When the chance to leave came up a couple of months later i took it and ran.

so this case made me so sad. She could have been my friend or neighbour. And i also think about all of the domestic staff who have been raped and beaten there by their employers and who have no chance of recourse or justice.

The culture won't change. no matter how shiny it is on the surface, underneath that, the beliefs are still medieval.

[Tropezienne]

I dont think anyone on this forum has ever aid there's no cause for women's rights struggle etc in Islamic countries ISaySteadyOn!

[Tropezienne]

The logic JenLindley , which everybody seems afraid to say, is Islamic law.

[Miffer]

FreshwaterSelkie

I know a couple who went there and came back waxing lyrical about the 'slaves' they had. That's actually what they said. They described them as "Filipino or something" and they would do "anything you wanted".

My brain nearly exploded, when I challenged them they were disgustingly blase saying that they wouldn't like to live like this permanently but it was brilliant for a holiday and they were sure the 'staff' were fine with it.

[FreshwaterSelkie]

Coming back to the point of "well, what did she expect? Extra marital sex is a crime there. She shouldn't have reported" - it is not that simple.

What you have to understand about cultures like Dubai is the level of hypocrisy that operates there. Any night of the week, you go into a bar and there is pretty open prostitution going on around you. It's tolerated.

It's not actually legal to drink, but it's tolerated (hotels are licensed so tourists can drink, but if you are resident there and want to buy alcohol you need a permit. Even then, it's not legal to drink in public, or to be drunk in public. As a sexist aside, I had to be on my husband's permit.)

It's not legal to have extra marital sex, but it's tolerated (nobody will check if you are married to whoever you are sharing a hotel room or apartment with).

The problem lies not with the application of sharia law, but with the arbitrary standards with which it's applied. You can get filthy drunk, shag whoever you want and chances are nothing will come of it - until it does. You piss off the wrong person, the police take against you for some reason or you otherwise come to the attention of the authorities.

Then any action that you have taken that would otherwise be winked at becomes a problem. It's a problem of "face", of "honour" - the authorities like to appear tolerant only in as far as it functions to make them look reasonable and strong - but that expires pretty quickly if they don't like the cut of your jib. Dubai likes to market itself as tolerant, but it is actually hypocritical.

I'm not surprised at your friends, miffer. The stories I heard from my cleaner and her friends would make your hair curl with the level of arrogance, entitlement and blindness to the realities of other people's lives.

[FreshwaterSelkie]

^sorry - the point of the "it's tolerated", is that someone who visited or worked there would have no reason to believe that they would not be believed if they were raped, because on the surface it appears as a modern enlightened city, much like any other. If you take it at face value, it's tolerant and open. It's only when you dig underneath that the problems start to become apparent.