A 24-year-old rape victim is being charged for having sex outside of marriage, alcohol consumption, and filing false statements after reporting her attack in United Arab Emirates.
Marte Deborah Dalelv, from Norway, has been working for as an interior designer for a company in Qatar since 2011. Dalelv claims that she was dragged into a hotel room and raped by a coworker last March. They were attending a business meeting in Dubai.
After her attack, Dalelv’s reaction was to contact police. Unfortunately, they turned the crime against her after she was given a medical examination and they detected she had drank alcohol before the rape took place. She was then detained for four days.
Forbes reports that she was then fired by her former boss, Wissam al Mana, who also happens to be Janet Jackson’s most recent husband.
United Arab Emirates is greatly influenced by its Islamic traditions but is mostly populated by many visitors and tourists. Many find these traditions to be too strict and extremely unfair, especially against woman. A group called the Emirates Center for Human rights has formed to monitor UAE affairs such as this one, and have recognized the injustices in this case.
"We urge authorities to reform the laws governing incidents of rape in the country," said Rori Donaghy, a spokesperson for the group, according to CBS News. "To ensure women are protected against sexual violence and do not become the targets of prosecution when reporting crimes."