Mar 8 Update: Second Prize Winner in Group 2
Finalist in WLP’s Youth Essay Contest Group 2: 18-25 Years
S G, UAE
As a girl growing up in Dubai, I was accustomed to strangers pinching my buttocks, beckoning me to enter their cars, and voicing their obscene paedophilic desires. Yet I never reported any of these men, to the police or even my family. Not out of shame, but because I knew I would be the one who end up being punished. Admitting to those incidents would have resulted in me being a prisoner at home, while the perpetrators would be free to roam the streets. Beneath a facade of modern, liberalised attitudes lies Dubais deep-rooted tradition of sexism.
Traditional Emirati Door (cc) Dido©
In the UAE, as well as in other countries in the Middle East, it is common for the police to arrest victims of rape. Often they are even accused of seducing their assailant. Other times, police will investigate the victim and perhaps uncover that she has had consensual relations with another man, and put her in jail rather than deliver justice to the man who violated her. Thus women in this society learn that reporting an instance of rape earns them a jail term and deportation, understandably making them reluctant to come forward. In turn, men, realizing that they have little chance of facing consequences, are less hesitant about harassing women. It is not easy for a victim to report an instance of rape, even when they receive support from their family and the state. Imagine living in a city where reporting rape is equated to an admission of extra-marital relations (a criminal offense) and comes along with life-long negative social stigma. This is only one of the many inequalities women in the UAE face, but arguably the most daunting.
In 2004, the UAE ratified the Convention on the Elimination of All forms of Discrimination on Women. Over 5 years later, it is yet to submit any of the mandatory reports about the steps it is taking towards treating women equally. Demoralizing as this lack of initiative is, the signing of the convention is still a symbol of hope. Nevertheless, CEDAW and the international community need to increase pressure on the UAE to improve the lives of its female residents. Allowing social traditions of sexism masked under the pretext of religion is not acceptable. I believe CEDAW would be more successful in tackling this setback if it worked alongside social advocates familiar with Islamic texts.
Of course pressure from CEDAW is of little use unless attitudes within the country change. I believe that in order to for things to change, we, the population of the Arab world, need to question what is going on around us and look towards to positive aspects of other societies for guidance. During my years as a resident of North America, I came across various pamphlets emphasizing a woman’s right to say no. We need to question why these pamphlets are absent in the Arab world. We have to re-assess our judicial system when punish rape victims for adultery while men go scot-free. We are obliged to re-examine our belief system when we start to think that an unaccompanied woman is a bigger crime than rape. We cannot continue equating rape victims to temptresses.
As a society, we need to develop clear cut definitions of what constitutes sexual harassment. At present, most men, and even some women, tend to trivialise incidents of sexual harassment. This makes it particularly hard for a victim to deal with the situation, and more often than not, results in life long scarring. Future crimes have to be prevented and support needs to be available to those who are victimized. The public needs to be educated about how to treat these women. It has to be brought to peoples attention that the women they are about to harass are someones mother, sister or daughter. It would be particularly helpful if anonymous hot lines were set up for victims to receive counselling. Additionally, members of the police force should be provided with sensitivity training on how to deal with victims.
Local sceptics often claim that women pretend they have been raped in order to avoid being charged for consensual sex. Personally, I believe the UAE would benefit from decriminalising pre-marital relations. While I am aware that this might not be the most Islamic solution, it would eliminate false claims of rape, and women would be taken seriously when reporting instances of harassment. Women are already subject to social discrimination after rape. They do not need the state to punish them as well. The judicial system needs to switch from making examples of the victims to making examples of the aggressors.
Considering the ability of Dubais population to adapt to rapid transformation from desert to developed, I believe we are equally capable of adjusting to a society where women are equal. Minor victories are being won. The foreign media is beginning to help change peoples negative attitudes towards victims of rape and harassment. Victims are gradually becoming less hesitant to discuss this topic currently perceived as a social taboo. With people from overseas being jailed for being rape victims, the UAE is receiving negative press and will have to take steps to repair its image. We need the rest of the world to help keep us in check until we learn to do so independently. And in turn, we the socially conscious members of the Arab world need to vocalize what is going rather than sitting around on our pinched buttocks.
Finalist in WLP’s Youth Essay Contest Group 2: 18-25 Years
S G, UAE
March 2nd, 2010 at 1:37 am
I feel that if I was a Dubai police officer sitting in a police station listening to a rape victim talking about their incident, I would be forced with a dilemma due to conflicting orders being given by my superiors.
It is a crime to rape someone.
It is a crime to have sexual relations with someone if you are not married to them.
To prove a rape, you need evidence. In the absence of forensic proof, you need witnesses (some people feel that you need four witnesses, to something that usually happens in places where there are no witnesses. They don’t call them “crimes of opportunity” for nothing).
To prove that extra-marital sexual relations has occured, you can use a confession, which is exactly what a rape victim is giving a police officer.
The pressure to perform and do something about the situation from superiors would force a police officer to work with whatever evidence they currently have and choose the path of least resistance and difficulty.
At best, it is laziness, at worst, it is sheer cowardice to take on the challenge to uphold a victim’s honor.
It is utterly unacceptable nevertheless.
March 3rd, 2010 at 10:19 am
As a Westerner growing up in Dubai, I can probably only partially relate to this essay. I definitely know how it feels to be harrassed by strangers at any time of day or night and to be ignored or patronised because of my gender. I can only imagine that it must be worse for young Arab girls who have added family pressures of purity and marriage, and for whom rape is something of a grey area.
Dubai acts so modern and on the outside it really is, but inside, sexism runs deep, just as homophobia and racism do. Dealing with these things just one at a time won’t help – the entire social fabric of this discrimination needs to be dealt with en masse.
March 4th, 2010 at 1:15 am
Thank you for your comments. Sameer, I could not agree with you more about the law needing to be revamped. It is a real shame that rape counts as ’sexual relations.’ What is more shocking is that women guilty of adultery (or guilty of being a rape victim as the case may be) often receive harsh sentences. Yet men guilty of adultery or rape somehow receive pardons with far shorter sentences. It feels rather ironic that a country which values virginity would go easy on rapists who often prey on young girls.
Claire, you are most certainly right about ethnicity (and citizenship) influencing the sort of discrimination you face. Western expats are lucky that they their embassies will take up for them should anything terrible happen to them. Conversely they are unlucky that they are stereotyped as ‘promiscuous’ and are at times accused of leading on their assailants. Expats from poorer countries are unfortunately less likely to get help from their governments who do not want to risk ruining relations with the UAE. Of course the worst plight is suffered by the Emirati girls who come from families with no ‘wasta’ or influence. They have nowhere else to go.