Dubai doing its best to encourage tourism and investment

techdiver · 08-01-2010 11:03AM #1

British woman 'arrested in Dubai after being raped'

A 23-year-old British woman on holiday in Dubai told police she had been raped, only to be arrested herself for having illegal sexual intercourse.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/dubai/6949008/British-woman-arrested-in-Dubai-after-being-raped.html

davyjose · 08-01-2010 11:54AM

Part of the problem is, people go to Dubai thinking "anything goes", but they're entering a Muslim country in the Middle east. These people wouldn't carry on like that in Saudi Arabia, for instance.
I know Dubai is very westernised, but for a while now the locals have been asking for a clamp-down on the behaviour of it's tourists.

Yeah it's shocking, but Dubai is a country with some very shady politics and its human rights policies are through the floor. I'm not at all surprised tbh.

mathie · 08-01-2010 12:06PM

davyjose wrote: »

Part of the problem is, people go to Dubai thinking "anything goes", but they're entering a Muslim country in the Middle east. These people wouldn't carry on like that in Saudi Arabia, for instance.
I know Dubai is very westernised, but for a while now the locals have been asking for a clamp-down on the behaviour of it's tourists.

Yeah it's shocking, but Dubai is a country with some very shady politics and its human rights policies are through the floor. I'm not at all surprised tbh.

Carry On Getting Raped?
I don't remember Barbara Windsor in that.

AnonoBoy · 08-01-2010 12:08PM

I'm shocked.

You'd expect that sort of behaviour in Listowel but not in Dubai.

davyjose · 08-01-2010 12:09PM

mathie wrote: »

Carry On Getting Raped?
I don't remember Barbara Windsor in that.

Well getting raped can happen you anywhere - I'm talking about getting drunk and passing out in a public toilet.

Hank_Jones · 08-01-2010 12:12PM

davyjose wrote: »

Well getting raped can happen you anywhere - I'm talking about getting drunk and passing out in a public toilet.

You've never lost the run of yourself while on the drink?

I know she is in a Muslim country and shouldn't be carrying on like that, but nobody deserves that.

Degsy · 08-01-2010 12:14PM

Dubai is on its ballbag financially..there were irish people stupid enough to invest in property there a few years back and they have lost everything without a brick being layed!

pickarooney · 08-01-2010 12:16PM

davyjose wrote: »

Well getting raped can happen you anywhere - I'm talking about getting drunk and passing out in a public toilet.

You really should have made that clear.

Gone Drinking · 08-01-2010 12:24PM

Yea, but they have the tallest building in the world, and an indoor ski slope!

RoadKillTs · 08-01-2010 12:27PM

Dubai is just one big lie with a load of sand thrown in! plus its too hot

Gummy Panda · 08-01-2010 12:33PM

For people on m.boards

The woman, a Muslim of Pakistani descent, was celebrating her engagement to her 44-year-old boyfriend, and was allegedly attacked when she passed out in a hotel lavatory.
Despite approaching police about the attack, she was arrested after admitting to "illegal drinking" outside licensed premises as well as having sexual intercourse outside marriage. Her fiancé was also charged with the same offences.

The couple from London are now reportedly on bail and understood to be awaiting trial after having their passports confiscated. Should they be found guilty, they could face up to six years in jail.
The woman, who is said to have accepted her boyfriend's marriage proposal during a three-day break, admitted drinking too much alcohol as they celebrated at Dubai Marina's Address Hotel. The waiter, believed to be Syrian, is then said to have followed her into the toilets and raped her while she was in a state of semi-consciousness.
After her fiancé found out about the attack, they contacted police, but they were questioned about breaking the country's strict rules, which contain elements of Sharia law.
She was then made to give a blood test to prove she had been drinking, and only was given access to proper medical checks following an appeal from the British embassy, it is claimed.
A cellmate of the woman told The Sun: "She's a British girl but a Muslim, so I think they were tougher on her because of that.
"She was trying to report the rape but soon realised the policemen were more interested in how often she has sex with her boyfriend."
Her attacker is believed to have denied rape, claiming she consented, but he has also been charged with "illegal sex".
A spokesman for the Foreign Office told The Daily Telegraph: "We can confirm two British nationals were arrested in Dubai on 1 January. Our embassy in Dubai is providing consular assistance and we cannot confirm or release further details about the case"
An Address Hotel spokesman told The Sun: "The matter is being investigated by the authorities".
Dubai has strict rules about sexual intercourse and alcohol. In July 2008, British woman Michelle Palmer, was convicted after being caught having drunken sex outsider marriage with Vince Acors. They were given three-month suspended jail sentences.

tl;dr version: The illegal sex charge isn't for the rape.

davyjose · 08-01-2010 12:54PM

Hank_Jones wrote: »

You've never lost the run of yourself while on the drink?

I know she is in a Muslim country and shouldn't be carrying on like that, but nobody deserves that.

The point is, this is very much frowned upon by their religion; it's also a country with little regard for human rights. Put it together, and what do you get...?

I'm not saying I agree with the ruling. I damn well don't. But this isn't the EU. Just because there's a Debenhams or a Nike Store in the shopping malls, does not mean you are safe.
This is a country which makes up its own rules, and the average person doesn't have a leg to stand on.

My point is, people go there thinking things like topless sunbathing, and public drunkenness is acceptable. I'm simply saying it isn't. Not there.

davyjose · 08-01-2010 12:55PM

pickarooney wrote: »

You really should have made that clear.

Thought it was. My bad.

Papad · 08-01-2010 02:44PM

Gone Drinking wrote: »

Yea, but they have the tallest building in the world, and an indoor ski slope!

An indoor ski slope in the tallest building in the world: now, that's cool. I can just imagine it ............. skiing from the 201st floor down to the lobby.

Captain_Generic · 08-01-2010 02:50PM

davyjose wrote: »

My point is, people go there thinking things like topless sunbathing, and public drunkenness is acceptable. I'm simply saying it isn't. Not there.

Yeah some people seem to be under the impression its Spain with more shops, though their tourism ads don't really do much to inform people otherwise

SV · 08-01-2010 02:54PM

lol..not even going to bother on this one.
If ye can't figure it out by now ye never will

Morlar · 08-01-2010 03:03PM

Captain_Generic wrote: »

Yeah some people seem to be under the impression its Spain with more shops, though their tourism ads don't really do much to inform people otherwise

They need a new campaign ;

'Come to Dubai! Fun for all the family. Just dont get raped or we charge you.'*

* With the immoral sexy havings.

techdiver · 08-01-2010 04:14PM

Gummy Panda wrote: »

For people on m.boards

tl;dr version: The illegal sex charge isn't for the rape.

Oh, that's ok then... :rolleyes:

D-Generate · 08-01-2010 04:56PM

Dubai is a place where ethics seem not to exist. A large part of their workforce are for all intensive purposes slaves. Basically a number of companies lure over workers from India and other Southern Asia places with the promise of a wonderful life and once they arrive in Dubai they take their passports from them. Then they accommodate them in buildings and give them food but the price of this is taken out of their paycheck so that at the end of each week the worker is either paid a pittance or might even end up owing money to the employer. The government needless to say do not crack down on it.

I just don't know how people can go over there and expect it to be like Marbella when it is nothing but a dictatorship with fancy buildings and a ski slope and non-existent human rights.

humanji · 08-01-2010 05:13PM

techdiver wrote: »

Oh, that's ok then... :rolleyes:

Is it only a problem because she was raped? If she murdered someone and then was stabbed herself, should she be let off the murder charge?

techdiver · 08-01-2010 05:19PM

humanji wrote: »

Is it only a problem because she was raped? If she murdered someone and then was stabbed herself, should she be let off the murder charge?

Eh, what?

Are you saying you agree with a backward law that criminalises pre-marital sex?

humanji · 08-01-2010 05:21PM

techdiver wrote: »

Eh, what?

Are you saying you agree with a backward law that criminalises pre-marital sex?

Did I say I agree? I simply pointed out that she broke the law and has been arrested for it.

Gummy Panda · 08-01-2010 05:21PM

techdiver wrote: »

Oh, that's ok then... :rolleyes:

Maybe post the whole article in future, rather then a dramatic snippet of it. Your OP made it sound like they arrested her for being raped.

Its their country. They can govern themselves however they see fit. If the people there don't like it, they should rise up. If we don't like it, then don't go there.

speedboatchase · 08-01-2010 05:23PM

Dubai and Abu Dhabi are both a disgrace. Hotter than the sun, built by modern day slaves and ruled by Barbarians who travelled on camels about 30 years ago, where the Crown Princes brother tortured an afghan trader with a cattle prod, ran him over in an SUV, poured salt on his wounds and lit his genitals on fire. It is NOT in any way like Las Vegas despite the marketing, and in 30 years when their oil has run out and they have squandered billions on pie in the sky projects (like the Tiger Woods Dubai golf course which requires 4m gallons of water per day) they will return to exactly where they were before, and good riddance.

This woman was behaving inappropriately, sure, but nowhere in a Western society would this woman face possible jail time

speedboatchase · 08-01-2010 05:24PM

Gummy Panda wrote: »

If the people there don't like it, they should rise up. If we don't like it, then don't go there.

OT, but you have a completely neutral position on Rwanda, Zimbabwe and Sudan? :rolleyes:

techdiver · 08-01-2010 05:29PM

Gummy Panda wrote: »

Maybe post the whole article in future, rather then a dramatic snippet of it. Your OP made it sound like they arrested her for being raped.

Its their country. They can govern themselves however they see fit. If the people there don't like it, they should rise up. If we don't like it, then don't go there.

Dubai has been horing itself to western investors and tourists for the last decade as they have been trying to re-position themselves as a holiday and leisure destination. My post was using this as one of many examples of backward thinking that will inevitably sink the nation when it is seen for what it is. They want to market themselves as a western friendly destination, then they will need to change their attitude.

davyjose · 08-01-2010 05:36PM

Johann Hari wrote a fantastic article last year on Dubai...

http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/johann-hari/the-dark-side-of-dubai-1664368.html

Scary place.

davyjose · 08-01-2010 05:37PM

techdiver wrote: »

Eh, what?

Are you saying you agree with a backward law that criminalises pre-marital sex?

Along with a falsley presented, and sensationalised OP, you're now putting words in people's mouths?

Nice.

techdiver · 08-01-2010 05:49PM

davyjose wrote: »

Along with a falsley presented, and sensationalised OP, you're now putting words in people's mouths?

Nice.

I presented the opening paragraph of an article from a publication and a link to the full article. How is that false presentation? The title of the thread was clear. Dubai wants western money and tourism whilst at the same time behaving like savage Neanderthals towards a woman who was raped.

If you commit a minor offence in Ireland, i.e. jaywalking, and are then subsequently beaten to a pulp, will the gardai deny you treatment and the time of day until they first establish that you were the perpetrator of a petty offence before dealing with the more serious and heinous crime?

wes · 08-01-2010 05:52PM

Well, this is by no mean a surprise. Dubai has been up to this sort of carry on for a long while now, and was practically built on slave labour from South Asia.

Gummy Panda · 08-01-2010 06:07PM

speedboatchase wrote: »

OT, but you have a completely neutral position on Rwanda, Zimbabwe and Sudan? :rolleyes:

So you're comparing the genocide in Rwanda to a country which uses Sharia Law to govern itself?

There is a big difference between wiping out ethnic groups and saying pre-martial sex is illegal.

Wasn't our own DPP of trying to prosecute a now 18-year old lad for having sex with his girlfriend when he was 16 years old?

Dubai doing its best to encourage tourism and investment

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