I feel awful and outrageous to discuss such cruelty and threat which

women regularly face in our society, known as "rape". Any content

written on such topic cannot justify the agony and torment faced by

them. 

The terror of physical assault not just

hinders with the freedom of women, it likewise misrepresents and

increase their dependency on men. The law is pertaining to persuasive

assault and the manner in which it is conducted impacts the society and

is generally regulated by the relationship between man and woman in our

culture or any other given society. It is quite obvious that the

lawmakers of the legal system in all jurisdictions, though impose strict

punishments for offenders, yet failed to protect the rights of women

and failed to eradicate such social stigma from our society. It is not

uncommon and unreasonable to say that rape laws in any country are

mostly dependent upon the tradition and culture of that society. Each

country, though considers it as an offence, yet imposes different

punishments to the offenders, considering their traditional values and

culture. The present article revolves around the criminal action taken

against the accused who had committed an offence of rape and the

procedure under which any aggrieved victim can file a complaint before

the relevant authority.

UAE Legislature

Rape and debasement are covered under chapter five regarding

crimes perpetrated against honour under Federal Law Number 3 of 1987,

UAE Criminal Penal Code. In accordance with this Law, the court shall

impose the death penalty on those who coerce a female for sexual

intercourse or conducts sodomy with a male. Subsequently, any attempt to

perform such acts shall invite life imprisonment.

Despite the foregoing penalties, UAE strictly forbids consensual sexual

intercourse within the country, and any violation of this provision will

invite imprisonment of 1 year along with deportation. However,

consensual intercourse with a minor shall invite term imprisonment. In

this regards, any victim of rape shall have enough proof that sexual

intercourse was not consensual and was forced upon.

It would not be justified to say that it is comparatively difficult

to prove the act, as it has been committed behind four walls. Yet,

courts in the UAE focus on evidence to prove the guilt of the accused

beyond any reasonable doubt. Under the facade of a modern and advanced

standard of living among other Gulf nations, UAE faces an abrupt ending

due to conventional rules and regulations applied on women, especially

in the area crimes against honour.

Credence in any legal system is what makes us believe in the true power

of an authority to penalize a criminal act. Yet, we have encountered

numerous cases, where victims are unwilling to file a complaint against

the accused due to legal repercussions and the fear of being deported

from the country. We believe an amendment in UAE laws in order to

enhance the security of women's rights and their interest is the need of

the hour, which will result in enhancing UAE's position on an

international perspective.