Norwegian woman who reported being raped in Dubai is jailed for 16 months

A young Norwegian woman has been sentenced to 16 months in jail after she reported a rape in Dubai.
The 25-year-old was in the United Arab Emirates on a business trip when she was raped and reported the assault to the local police.
Dubai police did not believe her, and instead took her passport and jailed her on suspicion of having had sex outside marriage.
The Norwegian woman reported the sexual assault in March this year, after which she had to spend days in a cell before she was allowed to use a telephone.
With the help of family members, the Norwegian consulate was able to negotiate a release and she has been living under the protection of the Norwegian Sailor’s Church until her sentencing this week.
'I received the harshest sentence for sex outside marriage, harshest sentence for drinking alcohol and on top of that I was found guilty of perjury,’ the woman told Verdens Gang.
‘It is a terrible situation she is in,’ said Gisle Meling, the priest at the Norwegian Sailor’s Church.
‘We are very surprised and had hoped it would go another way, but we live in a country which has a justice system which draws its conclusions with the help of Sharia law.’
She was sentenced to one year and four months in jail but as Norway has no extradition treaty with Dubai, her future is uncertain.
The young Norwegian woman's story is not unique.
Earlier this year Australian Alicia Gali, 27, spoke of how she was thrown in a Dubai jail for eight months after she reported a rape.
Miss Gali was working at hotel chain Starwood when her drink was spiked in the staff bar.
She awoke to find that three colleagues had raped her, but when she went to a hospital for help, they turned her over to the police and she was charged with illicit sex outside marriage.
Under UAE law, rapists can only be convicted if either the perpetrator confesses or if four adult Muslim males witness the crime.
Under the Sharia-influenced laws, sex before marriage is completely forbidden and an unmarried couple holding hands in public can be jailed.
Foreigners jailed in Dubai are deported immediately after completing their sentences.

Lovely part of the world.

It's terrible and sounds like it is straight out of the dark ages, but its a well known fact about this place of the world. Simple way to avoid it really - stay the f*ck away, go somewhere where they actually treat you like a human being...

We can't force them to change the laws because we don't agree with them. They probably don't really care about money from tourists so they wont be likely to change.

It's terrible and sounds like it is straight out of the dark ages, but its a well known fact about this place of the world. Simple way to avoid it really - stay the f*ck away, go somewhere where they actually treat you like a human being...

We can't force them to change the laws because we don't agree with them. They probably don't really care about money from tourists so they wont be likely to change.

Who the fuck would seriously want to visit places like these.

The irony is that they really DO care about tourism - the entire country is being steered toward the high end tourism business because they know that one day they will run out of oil. Unfortunately, religiousity rears its ugly head over and over with bullshit backwards ideas guiding decidedly strange morals.

She wasn't a tourist, she was in Dubai on business

Fair enough, but the point still stands. Whether we agree with their laws or not is another argument - if you enter another country you are bound to obey their rules and customs (much like you should when you visit someones house).

Best thing is avoid places like this (whether it be for work or pleasure)...

So we should approach this with the attitude "Hey, we can't blame the Arabs. It's part of their culture."

Yes but isn't their law something like you cannot claim 'rape' unless 4 adult males witness it??

Are there any 'Christian' countries that have similar draconian laws based on their religious beliefs?

Yes but isn't their law something like you cannot claim 'rape' unless 4 adult males witness it??

I see articles like this and really want to rant, but rather then go off and vent my feelings I'll simply go with this

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