DUBAI: Women in the United Arab Emirates are once again speaking out against a court ruling that set free a man after he was accused of raping a woman he was working with. A court in Ras Al Khaimah acquitted a barber of charges of raping his female worker after it found no evidence of the crime. The court also doubted the charge filed by the Arab woman on the grounds she reported her employer nearly a month after the presumed rape. The woman had told police her employer, in his 50s, lured her to a desolate area and raped her. The man admitted he had a work dispute with the woman but denied taking her to an isolated area and raping her. But women are not buying the argument and are demanding answers and justice for women in the country who continue to face sexual violence. Mona Hassan, a Tunisian doctor living in Abu Dhabi who has worked with rape victims in the city, told Bikyanews.com that "it is the unfortunate reality that the men will most likely get off because they were not overly violent and got the woman drunk before forcing her to have sex with them." She said that under Emirati law, without a discernible violent entry, there "really is no case. Not to mention the fact the woman was drunk, which is already a step against her." Making matters worse still, other female activists argue is that two of the defendants are Emirati nationals. Courts in the past have been unwilling to punish Emirati men for violent crimes against women, much to the anger of women's activists in the country. "We need something to be done in this kind of thing. The court is saying that a man's word is stronger than a woman's, who faced the ultimate violation of her body," women's rights activist and social worker Aziza AbdelHamed told Bikyanews.com. "This could set a precedent that means men can find women alone and rape them and not face jail because nobody can corroborate the woman's story. It is horrible." Violent crimes against women in the UAE are not uncommon, but women in the country argue police do too little when women come forward, often demanding to know what they said, or what they were wearing before filing a case against the perpetrator. BN
