• Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.

Dubai: woman sentenced to 1 y 4 mos for reporting rape (update: pardoned)

Status
Not open for further replies.

Polari

Member
Meanwhile her attacker got just over a year...

Woman jailed for reporting rape

A Norwegian woman who reported to police in Dubai that she’d been raped while on a business trip in the fast-growing Gulf city ended up being jailed herself. Her sentence is longer than her convicted rapist’s.

The 25-year-old’s trip to Dubai in March turned into a nightmare after she reported the rape and was jailed for having had sex outside of marriage and for drinking alcohol. Norwegian Broadcasting (NRK) reported that her passport was seized and she wasn’t allowed to borrow a telephone for three days. Then she called her family in Norway.
They mobilized the Foreign Ministry, and Norway’s consulate in Dubai managed to get her out of jail and housed at the local Norwegian Seamans Church, where she remained until her sentence recently was handed down: prison for one year and four months. Her attacker was sentenced to one year and one month, Anniken Meling of the Seamans Church told NRK.

The foreign ministry reported that Norway has no extradition treaty with Dubai, which was described as a Muslim police state. That means tourists and visitors are usually safe as long as they follow local laws. They include laws against extra-marital sex and drinking outside of restaurants and bars in the biggest hotels, leaving rape victims vulnerable. An appeal was pending.

http://www.newsinenglish.no/2013/07/17/woman-jailed-for-reporting-rape/

Similar story happened to an Australian gang rape victim recently. She spent eight months in prison:

http://www.theblaze.com/stories/201...ailed-for-8-months-for-sex-outside-marriage/#

Just remember when you visit Dubai you're supporting these kind of human rights abuses.
 

Mr-Joker

Banned
Oh Dubai, why are you so backward and stupid? The woman shouldn't going to jail for something that isn't her fault.
 

SmokyDave

Member
I feel aggrieved that my first response to the thread title was 'why the fuck would you report a rape in Dubai?!'.

What a fucking shithole.
 
Just remember when you visit Dubai you're supporting these kind of human rights abuses.

well that's ridiculous. so when I visited America last year I'm supporting guys being armed killing black teenagers and getting off Scott free? of course not. this thing is terrible but don't paint the whole country because of something like this.
 
Have been reading about this today, terrible.

Over the last year or so with stories like this, and Zimmerman like decisions in courts around the world I'm making a mental list of places were justice is broken and I never want to associate with.
 
Just remember when you visit Dubai you're supporting these kind of human rights abuses.
Exactly. That's why I'm not planning to visit the place anytime soon. Western governments should warn their citizens from visiting these countries until they get their laws updated to 21st century standards.
 
well that's ridiculous. so when I visited America last year I'm supporting guys being armed killing black teenagers and getting off Scott free? of course not. this thing is terrible but don't paint the whole country because of something like this.

lol. This is such a sycophantic try-hard GAF post.

Well, I'm staying the hell away from those countries.

They don't want Ornstein there, anyway.
 

Carbonox

Member
I would love to visit Dubai but these places support barbarian laws that have no place in the modern world. It's saddening.
 

Polari

Member
well that's ridiculous. so when I visited America last year I'm supporting guys being armed killing black teenagers and getting off Scott free? of course not. this thing is terrible but don't paint the whole country because of something like this.

Let's keep that to the appropriate threads. How do you justify this from a moral perspective? The Dubai government is abusing rape victims.
 
well that's ridiculous. so when I visited America last year I'm supporting guys being armed killing black teenagers and getting off Scott free? of course not. this thing is terrible but don't paint the whole country because of something like this.

I feel you have to draw the limit somewhere, and these type of law are one of mine.
 

zma1013

Member
Wait wait, so if I understand this correctly, the rapist DOESN'T have to abide by the same "sex out of marriage" law as the woman? What I mean to say is, there is this law that says a person can't have sex outside of a marriage and so the dude both raped her and violated this law so he should have 2 charges on him, oh why am I even trying to bother with their dumb ass laws the men over there obviously just do whatever they want?
 

tino

Banned
Welcome to the middle age.

It's the real life version of the Medieval World (TM) from the imaginary mind of Michael Crichton!
 

MikeDip

God bless all my old friends/And god bless me too, why pretend?
Absolutely disgusting, no other way to put it. I don't give a damn about their culture, they have it wrong.
 
Let's keep that to the appropriate threads. How do you justify this from a moral perspective? The Dubai government is directly perpetrating heinous human rights abuses.

I'm not justifying it. I think it's abhorrent. but I don't judge a country by its laws/crimes etc.

for example, I love Singapore, but I do not support the death penalty for drugs or anything like this.

it's a shame this happens because it gives the city a bad name when there are a lot of terrific reasons to live her. I don't think anyone in their right mind can advocate this kind of thing its awful.
 

Septimius

Junior Member
well that's ridiculous. so when I visited America last year I'm supporting guys being armed killing black teenagers and getting off Scott free? of course not. this thing is terrible but don't paint the whole country because of something like this.

What do you think happened if westerners didn't take jobs or travel to the United Arab Emirates? Their economies would take a huge hit. Huge hit. What do you think they'd have to reconsider if no one went there because of the backward laws?

So yeah, you are supporting it when you go there. The Martin case is a false equivalency for many reasons. The law stating that you can be convicted for sex outside marriage when you're raped is an actual thing. That's not something to support. If you believe that the 'stand your ground' law in Florida is absurd and backwards, you'd do good not to support that, too. Since it's a state law, you could still support America. All depending on how much you care.

But don't fool yourself that you aren't fueling the economy of the Arab emirates when you're traveling there. And you say you don't judge a country by its laws? That's probably the most tangible thing you could ever judge a country based upon.
 

womfalcs3

Banned
Given that drinking alcohol is not prohibited in Dubai, the article's credibility is revoked after the third sentence. I wouldn't be surprised if it either captured the details of the story inaccurately or if it is purposely/deceptively being one-sided.
 
well that's ridiculous. so when I visited America last year I'm supporting guys being armed killing black teenagers and getting off Scott free? of course not. this thing is terrible but don't paint the whole country because of something like this.

Are there some parts of the country where people need not be concerned about these vile, backwards, misogynistic laws?
 

Polari

Member
I'm not justifying it. I think it's abhorrent. but I don't judge a country by its laws/crimes etc.

for example, I love Singapore, but I do not support the death penalty for drugs or anything like this.

it's a shame this happens because it gives the city a bad name when there are a lot of terrific reasons to live her. I don't think anyone in their right mind can advocate this kind of thing its awful.

You can understand that people might not want to support the Dubai government by visiting as a result of these policies though? Tourism is important to Dubai, right? So if we vote with our dollars and feet they might change their minds.
 

Theorymon

Member
This is really fucked up. I don't get it, how on earth can a court justify sending a rape victim to jail because "she wasn't married."?
 
You can understand that people might not want to support the Dubai government by visiting as a result of these policies though? Tourism is important to Dubai, right? So if we vote with our dollars and feet they might change their minds.

of course I have no problem with that. tourism is very important to Dubai so when stuff like this happens it really hurts the economy and reputation.

for some of us, this is home now and I hate hearing these stories as even if there is more to it, it's disgusting and not right. there are many lovely people and practices here but when something like this happens it makes the area look so backward.
 

Septimius

Junior Member
don't be stupid I just said I hate this stuff and don't advocate it all. just because I live some where does not mean I agree with all their laws and policies.

If you live somewhere, you are a citizen. As a citizen of a democratic country, you have every right to affect the laws of that country. But you can't travel to another country and protest their laws. So this is basically "voting with your wallet".

So no, where you live is 'not your fault' and you can fight for change if you feel your country needs some. But you are supporting a country when you decide to spend money there.
 
You can understand that people might not want to support the Dubai government by visiting as a result of these policies though? Tourism is important to Dubai, right? So if we vote with our dollars and feet they might change their minds.

Tourism is just for extra stuff, the oil is where the real $$$ is at.
 

Septimius

Junior Member
of course I have no problem with that. tourism is very important to Dubai so when stuff like this happens it really hurts the economy and reputation.

for some of us, this is home now and I hate hearing these stories as even if there is more to it, it's disgusting and not right. there are many lovely people and practices here but when something like this happens it makes the area look so backward.

Being a citizen is different from being a tourist. But also, deciding to become a citizen of another country is very, very much supporting their laws and societal structures. You think "this seems like a good place to live. I'll do that" and think that's disparate from the laws of the country?
 
This is really fucked up. I don't get it, how on earth can a court justify sending a rape victim to jail because "she wasn't married."?

Because of a certain book and their fucked up "interpretation" of it.
koran.jpg
 

agrajag

Banned
The whole extradition thing is unfortunate. Norway should still try to fight for one of its citizens. These backwards ass countries need to join the rest of us in the 21st century.
 

dark10x

Digital Foundry pixel pusher
of course I have no problem with that. tourism is very important to Dubai so when stuff like this happens it really hurts the economy and reputation.

for some of us, this is home now and I hate hearing these stories as even if there is more to it, it's disgusting and not right. there are many lovely people and practices here but when something like this happens it makes the area look so backward.
Pretty much.

The actions of the government in any country don't necessarily represent the feelings and attitudes of the people at large, but when those idiotic policies start treading on the rights of people un-related to that society it really paints a negative picture.

Because of a certain book and their fucked up "interpretation" of it.
People should never be "ruled by religion". For those of us who do not follow any organized religion it's particularly insulting. I don't believe in your made up fairy tales, don't subject me to your bullshit laws based on those "beliefs".
 
Dohoho!

Talk about throwing logic outta the window Dubai. It's like they're rewarding the offender for his crime. His shorter sentence is in reality an implied bro-fist from the Dubai ministry of justice.
 

Polari

Member
of course I have no problem with that. tourism is very important to Dubai so when stuff like this happens it really hurts the economy and reputation.

for some of us, this is home now and I hate hearing these stories as even if there is more to it, it's disgusting and not right. there are many lovely people and practices here but when something like this happens it makes the area look so backward.

I hope you express your opposition locally as well, as Edmund Burke said, all that the triumph of evil requires is good men doing nothing.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top Bottom