An organisation that helps people who are victims of injustice in the United Emirates has urged Irish and British women who become victims of sex crimes in the country NOT to report them.
After a British woman was arrested and charged with having extra-marital sex after she reported she was gang raped to authorities, Detained in Dubai are urging tourists in UAE not to report rape crimes because of the ‘manipulation when it comes to criminal accusations’ and the ‘racist’ preconceptions held against Western tourists.
‘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,’ Radha Stirling, founder of the organization, told The Independent.
‘Recent cases… show that it is still not safe for victims to report these crimes to the police without the risk of suffering a double punishment.’
‘We get people contacting us asking whether they should report a crime and – whether it be a rape or anything else – I often say no. Absolutely not.’
To add to the injustice, she adds that if a woman has drunk alcohol, it is seen that she has ‘consented to it.’
The British woman who was arrested says she was attacked and raped by two men from Birmingham and now she may face trial for the charges – for which possible punishments include imprisonment, deportation, flogging and even stoning to death.