I just read a heartbreaking story about a young French boy who was raped in Dubai that highlights the inadequacies of the rape laws in UAE--inadequacies that are certainly also evident in the Egyptian legal system. Despite the fact that he was raped by 3 men at knifepoint, the boy himself now faces charges of homosexual activity and has fled back to France. The UAE authorities also lied about the fact that one of the assailants had tested positive for HIV when he was in prison three years ago. The prejudice against homosexuals and lack of legal protection afforded to survivors of rape is unfortunately not surprising in this part of the world...
(Proviso: I am fully aware that the racial dynamics in this article might make some people uncomfortable--ie that it is a French national who is receiving all the attention while a UAE national would not get this type of publicity. I do not, of course, think that the rape is any worse because the survivor was French. UAE nationals cannot simply flee to Europe to escape these draconian laws.. and that's what's so terrible. I'm just pleased to see any publicity focusing on these issues).
You can read the story at http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/01/world/middleeast/01dubai.html?_r=1&th&emc=th&oref=slogin
Also, his mother has set up a support group dedicated to her son at http://boycottdubai.com/. She is calling for reforms to the UAE criminal code so that child survivors of rape are better protected by the law. You can join as a member to show your support.
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I posted this article on facebook and my friend Ali clearly took offense at my language. I wanted to share what he wrote - and also my reply.
Ali wrote:
"Similarly, the prejudices and inadequate legal protections for various minorities in our own backyard (the US) fail to provide adequate remedy. Surely, were this an Arab boy, the case would be even less likely to go to trial as it now has. There are countless cases of police abuse, sexual and other kinds, that are never pursued by prosecutors around the US."
My reply:
"I was expecting someone to comment on the fact that I had posted a story about a French kid... but, unfortunately, his French nationality has enabled him to garner publicity in the way that would have been impossible for an UAE national. I feel heartbroken about his story much as I feel heartbroken about every rape that I read about in the work I'm doing. And I'm glad when any publicity is focused on these issues.
Minorities in the US do indeed face massive hurdles getting adequate legal protection -- I spent most of last year challenging the US anti-terrorist provisions that are just one example of discriminatory laws that undermine the concept of fair trial/ right to be heard etc."
But, that said, it is indisputable that overall the rape and sexual abuse laws in the US / UK are better than what you're going to find in Egypt/ UAE... I'm working with the Egyptian criminal code and the protections it affords to women survivors of abuse/ homosexuals is non-existent. You can't even pretend that there is any legal protection available - not even a sham front of protection.
Are you saying that if an Arab boy in the US got gang raped, the case would be less likely to go to trial than if a French boy in the UAE got raped? I'm not sure if you're saying that.... but I'd have to disagree if that is your position. If you're saying that if an Arab boy in the UAE got raped, the case wouldn't go to trial ... absolutely right it wouldn't. That's what's so horrific.
One last thing: my comment "prejudice and inept legal protection" certainly wasn't intended to mean that the US/ Canadian/ European etc legal systems are without their own flaws. As I said, I spent the whole of last year battling to change the US legal system in particular.
But as I read numerous Egyptian domestic cases, speak to Egyptian homosexuals and female survivors of rape, and delve into the Egyptian and other Arab nation's domestic criminal codes, it is difficult for me not to feel angry about the horrific lack of protection given to women and the open discrimination directed at homosexuals. Just as I felt angry about the prejudice I saw in the US and UK.
Ali's response:
Im sorry Rebecca, I wasn't clear with what I meant. I think the reason this case got publicity is because it was a French boy, not an Arab boy. By saying that, i did not mean to convey anything about any legal system at all. I just think that is sad, but it makes very much sense all things considered. Having read the article though, it does all seem a bit bizarre doesn't it? What is a French boy doing in Dubai like that anyway, hitching rides and meeting his father? Not suspicious, just bizarre.
Me:
I was guessing he was a son of a diplomat/ businessman and so was in school and was happy to go off with a friend to get a ride to see his dad...
But I do agree that the fact that he was French meant that he got a level of publicity that an Arab boy probably would/ could not have garnered. Yes, it's sad that a UAE national wouldn't have been able to vent his anger and outrage so openly. I'm sure the New York Times, if contacted, would have published the story of an Arab boy... but it's whether someone who wasn't able to flee to France to get protection would have been brave enough to publicise his ordeal...
As for the abuse of women/homosexuals, I think its less the laws that are a problem but their enforcement. I don't know about Egypt, but I assume the laws on the books are much more flowery than their actual enforcement. That being said, I do think women as opposed to homosexuals enjoy a different status in the Middle East. Women in Iran for example have a great deal of legal rights against their husbands, and barring a few in your face, clearly discriminatory ones (which in the end don't seem to bother the women as much there), women can even be said to have advantages in some areas such as child custody. Homosexuals have no rights, it is as simple as that.
The reason I was compelled to respond to your post, notwithstanding the jibberish I actually posted, was your characterisation of 'not surprising in this part of the world'. I think very similar forms of abuse and malfeasance exist elsewhere. I myself would have little confidence that I would be accorded the same treatment at the hands of law enforcement and the American legal system as my WASP counterpart. Although technically, I am considered a WASP and not even in the US anymore... Now I digress. Whats with this ridiculous limit on characters?
yes - I see how that comment sounded bad. I guess it's just because I'm working and living 'in this part of the world' that I wrote it like that. I wasn't being very sensitive. I would have said the same thing about the US/ UK/ South America etc... when you do human rights work, you're always venting about some "part of the world".... but sorry for the sloppy language.
A child in the U.S. would get the same attention no matter what gender or nationality. They would gather evidence, looked for suspects, & made an arrest as soon as possible. Although the rapist(s) probably wouldn't get 15 years he, she, or they would have to live with the stigma attatched to them for the rest of there lives. You can find them on the national sex offender registery
http://www.familywatchdog.us/
dkmacmillan stands for Donald K. MacMillan, friends call me Ken.
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