DUBAI: The phone sits on the table at the cafe as Mariam sips her tea and pushes smoke from her water-pipe from her lips. She is waiting for positive news on a court case against an Emirati man charged with attempting to rape a Filipina maid in the country. “We too often have to hope and pray that the court will hand down stiff sentences, but this is an Emirati man and it is doubtful that he will get a long jail sentence,” she told Bikyamasr.com. The 26-year-old Emirati faced a United Arab Emirates (UAE) court on Tuesday over his attempts to rape a 40-year-old Filipina, whom he reportedly dragged from an elevator and through a corridor to his apartment in February this year. According to a report by Khaleej Times on Wednesday, the defendant pushed the Filipina inside his hotel room in but his rape try was foiled when he heard someone knocking on the door. The Emirati is facing charges of rape, kidnap with the use of force, and consumption of liquor. The Khaleej Times report said footage recorded by the building's closed-circuit television (CCTV) system showed the defendant dragging the woman to his apartment. The Filipina said she went to visit a friend in the apartment. When she rode the elevator, the Emirati followed her. When the elevator reached the seventh floor, the Filipina alleged that the man suddenly grabbed her shoulders and arms and pulled her out. The Filipina said she was screaming as the man dragged her through the corridor. Despite her shouts, the man rang the bell of his apartment and pushed her inside after a man opened the door. She finally was able to push the man away and escape, going to the police to report the crime. But activists like Mariam struggle with the court system in the UAE and the lax sentences against crimes against women. “Over the past few years, more and more women are reporting rape and attacks, but the courts are not responding with the same strength and it has to change,” she continued. “And that is why we are all waiting for the sentence, which should come anytime and it will be a test of the court's ability to crackdown on crimes against women.” In recent years, women activists have lamented the lenient sentences against rapists, which have often resulted in only two to three year sentences, and also sometimes include the deportation of the woman.
