IAN-UK

Indeed, but we are discussing Dubai, and the arbitrary application of laws relating to what is everyday, legal and socially acceptable behaviour in the home countries of many visitors to UAE. Yes, yes I know about chewing gum and Singapore

The severity of the penalties attached to those laws and the alien procedure leading through prosecution to conviction all exacerbate the unease I feel about advice suggesting UAE is a sensible vacation destination for sanctioned groups and minorities.

There are well documented cases of victims of rape being prosecuted for illegal intercourse. Perfectly straightforward under sharia law: the intercourse accepted on admission by the victim, but the rape requiring collaborative witnesses.

GUWonder

There's no uniform "sharia law". And this is about the UAE's law which has its own versions of "sharia". Admissions of sexual intercourse by an intercourse participant aren't always accepted even in the UAE; nor are rape convictions necessarily requiring collaborative witnesses present at the time and place of the rape for the allegations of rape to result in a conviction.

The "rule of law" in the UAE is indeed capricious in various ways, no less so when there are some people who can just have the local laws easily ignored when they think it suits their interests, commercial or otherwise. And the laws in the UAE are different than they are "at home". Things to watch out, more so when outside of one's own familiar territory.

It's public activity in the UAE that is a the root of most all of the legal trouble in the UAE that ends up hitting people, LGBT or not. And no, that is not a reference to Singapore-style caning although that very kind of practice is applicable for non-chewing gum type incidents in the UAE.

IAN-UK

Indeed, I used short-hand. Each emirate employs a parallel version of sharia law. I'm unsure of the jurisdiction and role of federal courts.

And there's the rub! The inconsistency means it's probably advisable to seek legal advice before reporting rape - unless you are very confident of your ground, friends and influence....

jahason

As a general rule in Muslim countries, what you do in private is not the state's affair. What you do in public may become one.

Reds2011

At which time what you do in private also becomes the states affair, as a general rule..