Regardless of ones gender, rape is a violent crime that continues to violate the victim time and time again. Like a scar it never leaves you, and when society turns their backs on victims of rape, and other sexually violent crime, it only deepens. Society is well known for turning its back on victims of sexually based crimes, and boys often fear worse than girls when it comes to seeking acceptance as victims.
15 year old, Alexandre Robert, a French national, was enjoying his summer holiday in Dubai when his life was dramatically changed in a flash one day. Lured by a friend Alexandre was led in to a car to, where he was trapped, threatened with violence and then sodomized by three men. Sadly Alexandre's horrific nightmare didn't end there, he was then faced with the threat of prosecution for homosexual activity, which in Dubai can yield , when he tried to report his case to the local authorities.
Civil and Islamic law criminalize homosexual activity in the United Arab Emerates. In addition Alexandre was misinformed as to the HIV status of one of his attackers, and thus not notified for some three weeks. The possibly of being HIV positive, was only to place more legal fear and mental anguish on the teenage boy. Under UAE law, a foreigner with H.I.V., or those convicted of homosexual activity, are to be deported. The boy and his family have now fled the country in fear of his arrest, however the are not giving up and continue to stand up for Alexandre and other boys in the same situation.
The law in the UAE fails to legally recognize the rape of male victims, leaving victims with few options for prosecution. However in this case fear has not stood in the way of the victim, and he has stood strong for prosecution. All the men involved in the case have plead not guilty to “forced homosexuality”, despite DNA evidence.
The case has sparked not only concern and outrage, but left many to question how a country with such wealth and international power, can still be so in the dark. Alexandre, said about the country;
"Dubai, they say we build the highest towers, they have the best hotels. But all the news, they hide it. They don't want the world to know that Dubai still lives in the Middle Ages."
(In Rape Case, a French Youth Takes On Dubai)
Only can only hope that cases such as Alexandre's spark international and domestic outrage in the UAE and internationally, and work to protect the rights of victims, regardless of their sex. Rape is rape, and no victim should fear legal prosecution for a crime which was so violently inflicted upon them. The pain and mental anguish that the act of rape leaves on a victim is pain enough, and to be revictimized by an archaic legal system is more than one should ever endure.
