Rape victim speaks out against Dubai

Marte Deborah Dalelv

Awoman sentenced to 16 months in jail in Dubai for having sex outside marriage - after she complained she'd been raped - says she decided to speak out in the hope of drawing attention to the risks of outsiders misunderstanding the Islamic-influenced legal codes in the cosmopolitan city.

The case has sparked outrage from rights groups and others in the West since the 24-year-old Norwegian was sentenced last week.

It highlights the 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.

"I have to spread the word ... After my sentence we thought: 'How can it get worse?"' Marte Deborah Dalelv said at a Norwegian aid compound in Dubai where she is preparing her appeal, scheduled for early September.

Dalelv, who has worked for an interior design firm in Qatar since 2011, said she was sexually assaulted by a co-worker in March while attending a business meeting.

She fled to the hotel lobby and asked for the police to be called. The hotel staff asked if she was sure she wanted to involve the police, Dalelv said. "Of course I want to call the police," she said. "That is the natural reaction where I am from."

Dalelv underwent a medical examination seeking evidence of the alleged rape and a blood test for alcohol.

She was detained for four days after being accused of having sex outside marriage, which is outlawed in the UAE - although the law is not actively enforced for tourists or the as hundreds of thousands of Westerners and others on resident visas.

She managed to call her stepfather in Norway after another woman in custody loaned her a phone card.

"My stepdad, he answered the phone, so I said that I had been raped, I am in prison ... please call the embassy," she recounted.

"And then I went back and I ... just had a breakdown.

"It was very emotional, to call my dad and tell him what happened."

Norwegian diplomats secured her release and she has been allowed to remain at the Norwegian Seamen's Centre in central Dubai.

She said the man she accused of rape received a 13-month prison sentence for having sex out of wedlock and for consuming alcohol.

Dubai authorities did not respond to calls for comment, but the case has brought attracted criticism from Norwegian officials and activists.

"This verdict flies in the face of our notion of justice," Norway's Foreign Minister, Espen Barth Eide, told the NTB news agency.

He called it "highly problematic from a human rights perspective".

Previous cases in the UAE have raised similar questions, with alleged sexual assault victims facing charges for sex-related offences.

Other legal codes also have been criticised for being at odds with the Western-style openness promoted by Dubai.

In London, a spokesman for the Emirates Centre for Human Rights, a group monitoring UAE affairs, said the Dalelv case points out the need for the UAE to expand its legal protections for alleged rape victims.

"We urge authorities to reform the laws governing incidents of rape in the country," said Rori Donaghy, "to ensure women are protected against sexual violence and do not become the targets of prosecution when reporting crimes."

- AP