Michelle&Malia

=[|Dubai Waiter Rapes Brit Girl and SHE Gets Arrested for Illegal Sex]:=

====**A Brittish woman of Pakinstani decent is drunk after celebrating her engagement and is raped by a waiter in Dubai. She and her fiance are put in jail for illegal sex when she goes to the police to report rape. The waiter claims the girl gave consent and is only charge with illegal sex and not rape.**====

//Malia//: I am constantly being surprised by outrageous things that happen outside of America that is not seen as a big deal in America. It surprises me that people can be jailed for showing any form of public display of affection or playing loud music because of religious laws. Something isn't right when someone feels victimized and scared, so they so to the authorities to report an illegal activity and seek help, but are instead thrown in jail. It sounded like the couple was detained for having sex before they were actually married, but I was under the impression that their activities did not take place in Dubai. How is that fair? The article mentions that the woman's cellmate believed that the authorities were harsh on her because she was a British citizen of Pakistani descent. I am a little confused as to why they would be harsh on her. Is it because they feel that she has shamed their religion? Also, when I think of Dubai, I think money. I hear that it is one of, if not the richest city in the world. I don’t know about other people, but I think that a lot of illegal activity has to do with money. I would think that a place where there is a lot of money would have a high crime rate. I’m curious as to whether there is a lot of law breaking that takes place secretly because of the strict laws. I also think that tourists have to be extremely careful when visiting Dubai. I doubt that many tourists research their laws and are punished for doing something that they don’t know is wrong.

//Michelle//: I was completely shocked from the moment I read the title of the article. Strict rules or not, I don't understand why Dubai acted so cruel and inhumane about the matter. They paid nearly no attention to the rape case that was presented before them. In fact, the rapist was charged with illegal sex rather than rape. The officials instead focused on gathering evidence to charge the British girl for illegal sex and illegal drinking. I really don't see why they would go in that direction and ignore the serious case at hand. The officials were basically charging the girl for having sex with her boyfriend back home, outside of Dubai, which is completely ridiculous. They couldn't prove if she had done it in Dubai, and even if they could have, since they are both legal adults and it would be in private, why would it matter? I can understand why drinking would be bad because you become a hazard to everyone around you when you drink, but the same is not true when it comes to what she does with her boyfriend. This also lead me to wonder if there are any sort of privacy rights in Dubai. I also thought that it was really unfair that the Dubai waiter wasn't charged for rape. Whether the girl was drunk or not doesn't excuse his behavior. He followed her into the girl's bathroom and raped her. If they had focused on the rape claim and done the normal rape case procedures, they might have been able to prove him guilty. However, they just took his word that they British girl consented. This brings up an important gender issue. Why was the male waiter's word so credible that they believed it without any solid evidence? Why did they ignore the girl's claim? And why is this different from in the United States? In the U.S., people usually sympathize with the female victim and take her word for it, however it seems that the opposite is true in Dubai.

**__Discussion Questions__**
1. Do you think Dubai’s strict laws would keep people from breaking the laws, or would more people break them secretly? 2. Do you think that tourists are more likely to be arrested than locals? 3. Was the rape victim at fault for being drunk? 4. Why doesn’t Dubai recognize that they see her as guilty when she came to them for help because she was a victim? 5. Why were the Dubai officials more interested in the girl's personal life (relationship and drinking) than the rape case? 6. Why was the Dubai waiter charged with illegal sex, but not rape? 7. Why is holding hands, playing loud music, and dancing considered inappropriate and can get you put in jail? 8. Do you think it is probable that Dubai will change it's strict laws? What will it take for such a change to happen?