Norwegian Rape Victim Sentenced To 16 Months Jail In Dubai

[Warren DeMontague]

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/07/19/marte-deborah-dalelv-sentenced-norwegian-rape-dubai_n_3624867.html

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates -- A Norwegian woman sentenced to 16 months in jail in Dubai for having sex outside marriage after she reported an alleged rape said Friday she decided to speak out in hopes of drawing attention to the risks of outsiders misunderstanding the Islamic-influenced legal codes in this cosmopolitan city.

The case has drawn outrage from rights groups and others in the West since the 24-year-old interior designer was sentenced Wednesday. It also highlights the increasingly frequent tensions between the United Arab Emirates' international atmosphere and its legal system, which is strongly influenced by Islamic traditions in a nation where foreign workers and visitors greatly outnumber locals.

This story's unbelievable. Apologies if this thread is a duplicate, I didn't see any others on the topic here.

[In_The_Wind]

1. Great! Punish the victim.

[Dr. Strange]

2. She's free now.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-23404042

Because Dubai is all about doing what's right, you know.

[Warren DeMontague]

3. Yeah.

Better to grudgingly "let one go" than actually change the fucked up fundamentalist Theocratic bullshit law.

You couldn't pay me enough to visit that place, spend my money there. Shit, if Cuccinelli wins, I won't even spend my money in Virginia.

[Dr. Strange]

4. Actually, they didn't just let one go.

The man she accused of raping her - a colleague - has also been pardoned, a Norwegian official has said.

That's right--they let both go. Because justice!

[LadyHawkAZ]

5. According to the law there, it was a mutual act

so I guess if your mind is already twisted into the Mobius strip necessary to condone jailing a rape victim in the first place, it makes a certain amount of sense to let both of them go.

What a looney place.

[Lunacee_2013]

6. What makes this story even more crazy

is the fact that Dubai also has a huge underground market for sex workers. I saw part of a documentary the other day that showed just how easy it was to buy sex there, and just how horrible some of those women really have it.

[TJ-Tretman]

7. Serious blow to Women's Rights

Honestly, I don't know what to say. Even in modern countries such as the UAE, sexism is still prevalent in the justice system and ingrained in society. How is it a woman's fault if a man forcibly has sex with her? I don't know why there isn't a bigger outcry from Women's Rights Activists about this.