Norwegian Marte Deborah Dalelv is a victim of rape. For reporting this heinous crime Dalelv received not justice but a 16-month sentence in prison. This is how justice works for women in the United Arab Emirates.
It is a good thing for Dalelv that she is a citizen of a Western nation with deep pockets because she received a pardon from UAE on Monday. Thanks, Xerxes.
But what would have happened if we were not paying attention to Dalelv’s sad case.
What if the “royal baby” was born a few days earlier, what if Dalelv was from a poor nation like India (migrant Indian workers are almost a third of UAE’s population), what if Dalelv was from UAE itself. One can imagine that this travesty of justice is the norm for countries like UAE. Dalelv should not have had to need a pardon in the first place and there needs to be renewed focus on countries that sentence women for being rape victims.
Rape victims have to serve at least a year in prison for “engaging in extramarital relations.”
The United Arab Emirates, especially Dubai, wants to brand itself a Western-friendly business hotspot. Let’s insist they change these archaic laws.
So what about pop legend Janet Jackson? The younger sister of the late Michael Jackson is married to one Wissam Al Mana whom Dalelv worked for while she was in Dubai. She was fired by Janet’s hubby because of the “extramarital relations” that were forced on her.
Al Mana Interiors expressed that they are “sympathetic” to Dalelv’s plight but they didn’t stand up for her. It would go a long way for Janet Jackson to shine a spotlight on UAE’s legalized misogyny and insure there be no more Dalelv’s.
