British lady arrested in Dubai because she was allegedly raped by two men (who were released without investigation)

Although strictly not money related, I bet this poor lady (& her family) have spent money trying to sort it out so we believe it’s relevant.

More evidence that you should know the laws of a country before travelling as it can cost you a fortune + in this poor ladies example get you arrested and your passport confiscated.

If you find yourself in trouble consider speaking/going to your embassy instead of contacting local Police immediately.

The Facts:

• Allegedly two British men took it in turns to rape a lady while filming the attack at a hotel.
• The British lady went to Police to report it (whilst in Dubai)
• She was arrested for breaking Emirati laws against extra-marital sex
• Released on bail
• Passport confiscated (so she cannot leave the country)
• Could face trial for offences with punishments including jail, deportation, flogging and stoning to death.
• The burden of proof required for rape under the UAE’s interpretation of sharia law – a confession from the rapist or witness statements from four adult men – means that cases that reach court are heavily skewed in the defendant’s favour and are frequently dismissed or turned around to prosecute the alleged victim.

A family friend told The Sun:

“They have taken her passport as lawyers thrash it out. She is staying with an English family but she is absolutely terrified,”

“She went to the police as the victim as one of the worst ordeals imaginable but she is being treated as the criminal.”

Radha Stirling, the founder and director of ‘Detained in Dubai‘ said:

“Police regularly fail to differentiate between consensual intercourse and violent rape,”

“Victims go to them expecting justice, and end up being prosecuted.  They not only invalidate their victimisation, they actually punish them for it.”

This case is a “tremendously disturbing“ example of long-running abuses in the holiday resort.

“We have been involved with several cases in the past where this has happened, and we work with the lawyers and families and have campaigned to change attitudes in the police and judiciary,”

“The horrible case at hand shows that it is still not safe for victims to report these crimes to the police without the risk of suffering a double punishment.”

Foreign and Commonwealth Office Say:

All sexual relations outside marriage are considered illegal, whatever a couple’s relationship at home, alongside homosexual sex and same-sex marriages.

“It’s against the law to live together, or to share the same hotel room, with someone of the opposite sex to whom you aren’t married or closely related,”

Technically the laws also could see unmarried pregnant women and their partners jailed.

Is this an isolated case?

This isn’t the first case, Dubai has criminalised rape victims including women from Norway and Australia, and several previous British victims in the past.