Just read a terrible story on Reddit of a girl’s ordeal trying to report a rape case here in Kuwait. If you don’t want to read the full story, basically after having to repeat her story at least 6 times to different males on different occasions, being refused to have a female officer question her, refusing her request for a translator, got hit on by her lawyer, she was finally charged and arrested herself. It’s such a mess and really upsetting. You can read the full story [Here]
31 replies on “Reporting Rape in Kuwait”
horrible story, and i dont doubt her at all BUT in this part of the world, she has so much going against her since she went to his house, he is her ex husband, and its her word against his, in a part of the world that is totally biased against females in the first place. they’ll probably turn the whole thing around and find her guilty and find him innocent
What happened to the woman was awful and I wouldn’t wish it to happen to any one, but I think saying it’s because of bias against women is wrong. Rape is a serious thing here and can carry the death penalty and you can’t go around accusing people without evidence. As much as I sympathize with her, she doesn’t have evidence that he actually raped her. She said she was raped while he said it was consensual and he has the upper hand since he invited her and she went to him willingly. I’m not judging or anything as I don’t know what went on inside the house and neither does anyone for that matter, but looking at this objectively there is no evidence that he forced himself. Same thing would happen anywhere in the world.
Its a sad story, but remember you are hearing this from one side. There are many cases where a boyfriend and girlfriend sleep together willingly (which is neither culturally not religiously acceptable). One she realizes that, or they break up, or she gets pregnant the story morphs into a ‘rape by trickery’ (exact legal phrasing at least according to Arab Times). This ‘rape by trickery’ is in many cases (possibly most) a bullshit allegation meant to stop the parent’s anger and the cultural shame. That is why prosecutors are now very reluctant to charge a man with rape when woman was a willing participant. If you were a prosecutor, and saw many of these cases every day, you would also be inclined to believe the girl was lying because she went to his house willingly and entered his bedroom willingly and therefore it literally becomes impossible to tell what happened. If he had forced himself on her in her house or if he took her unwillingly to his house it would be a very different matter.
This story reminds me so much of the Netflix series ‘Unbelievable’. I feel so sorry for her and hope that she can find a good lawyer to get her out of this mess.
I believe she is telling the truth however this is Kuwait you shouldn’t be going into strange guys houses. It’s not the US men here can be dangerous and they can get away with it. The MOI needs to reform sexual assault cases though based on that Reddit post, but Hell will freeze and the devil will dress up like Santa Clause before that happens. Just an fyi for all westernised girls in Kuwait, you’re in Kuwait use your head you’re in KUWAIT. If you play with fire you’re gonna get burned, sad to say but true.
I find it find it odd that this wasn’t posted in the newspaper, I read about rape newspapers very regularly. النيابة cannot be a person that is “barely out of their teens” because it’s an important legal job, you need a proper degree and years of experience also wasta won’t help much because you can’t get much money out of it since people are far more willing to give corruption money to a judge than a prosecutor.
When my grandfather died the officers were more than happy to have my mum seen by female officers, it’s get them out of trouble considering harassment cases can end males’ future especially as a law enforcer. No male police officer wants to get involved with a female in a police station because there are cameras everywhere so they can’t harass and they definitely will get caught.
I’m sorry why was she being charged? For being raped? That doesn’t happen unless they actually find something against her which according to the writer there isn’t, if people did go to jail for reporting rape then newspapers would either report it or won’t bother reporting that people got raped. my friend reported getting harassed, the guy harassing her got thrown in jail and paid her some kind of harassment emotional compensation fee which she used to get an Apple Watch and iPhone X (just got out at the time). Having been through the legal systems far too many times here I don’t trust this piece and I don’t know why they writer tries to grab our emotions by telling us irrelevant information about the death of her loved ones. I could easily be wrong but it seems really odd to me.
Salman, I have always found your comments a pleasure to read. Your writing has a certain fluidity to it, just like well written prose. I do not know what do you do for a living, but do consider writing more and sharing with the world to read.
Rommel
i also want to read, but cant find any comment from Salman….???
I can’t tell whether you are being sarcastic or not. If you aren’t then thank you, it is much appreciated. I am an economics student at the university of York in the U.K (do visit), I do also write as I am working of a story where the world has left oil behind and Kuwaiti elites suck society dry and flee to London. It’s rather good (if I do say so myself) and contains a lot of taboo including homosexuality, sex, drugs and drinking. I definitely won’t publish any of my work. However if you are being sarcastic then.. well played.
Yes! I have a funny idea for your story about the elites in Kuwait!
I meant what I wrote. And best of luck with your story, even though you choose not to share it with the world.
Rommel
I HAVE GOT TO get my hands on the book… Please.
@sulaiman cognac.. I’d love to read that story you are working on. I’m an illustrator and I’m interested in making comics.
– also Sulaiman, Alzuhair
Hit me up.
[email protected]
The comments here (so far) are the reason why so many women hesitate to report anything. Questioning her motives, doubting her story, trying to find excuses for why the man is innocent instead of feeling empathy for the victim.
Why wouldn’t a prosecutor question motives and doubt stories? That’s their whole fucking job! Also, in any country in the world, even crazy Sweden with their insane rape laws, this would boil down to ‘she said’ ‘he said’.
No in crazy Sweden they would follow procedure, do a medical test, confiscate her clothes they wouldn’t just brush it aside. Kuwait’s criminal justice system in dealing with sexual assault/rape is archaic at best non existent at worst.
So please explain to me how forensics’ can distinguish whether they had consensual sex or it was rape?
The medical test, and clothes, and all that stuff you are talking about is to implicate a rapist who is typically not even known to the victim. Basically finding his semen in her or on her clothes. In this case (at least from the way I understand it) the claim is that sex was consensual, so finding his semen everywhere doesn’t implicate or prove anything. So please answer how the most advanced rape kit in the word (lets say its in Sweden) can help in this case? It boils down to she said he said.
Doesn’t matter what it boils down to, developed countries like Sweden etc have due process and procedure. Whereas in Kuwait the victim is always judged first by their background their dress their sexual activity. Whereas in developed nations there is due process to allegations of rape/sexual assault. That due process is what encourages people to report rape/sexual assault and the investigation that comes from this due process is what can be a deterrent to a would be rapist. Would an ex boyfriend or husband willingly be able to rape someone with the comfort of knowing that it’ll be swept under the rug in a sexually liberal country? The man who rapes in our part of the world unfortunately does so knowing that in the end authorities will look towards the victim first and not the perpetrator.
Everything you said is true (except the last part I don’t think rapist rape because they can get away with it or not). However this particular case, at least as described in the reddit story, wouldn’t be treated differently anywhere in the world. Remember the whole thing with Harvey Wienstien, all the cases were either not prosecuted or thrown out by the judge because the women willingly went to his hotel room / house. Find me a prosecutor anywhere in the world that would be willing to take this case in front of a judge. A judge needs evidence. Lie detectors are not admissible in court because they are inaccurate.
I’d like to add that a competent police investigation would include things like checking the records of calls between them and messages between them etc.. In my estimation all this evidence would actually go against her in any court anywhere in the world. So a more competent investigation would probably not help. (Although I obviously agree that a more competent police force would be highly welcome).
Sweden has one highest rates of rape globally, if the rules were as firm as you say then people would think twice before doing it. It’s like a road with no speed cameras vs a road with many cameras.
Yeah and we know, empirically, who was behind most of those rapes in Scandinavia!
They have the highest level of rape in the world, because they also ave the broadest definition of it. It seems Kuwait has a very narrow definition (basically, it has to be forced and with a stranger).
My point was that the first reaction is always doubt, is always questioning the woman’s motive. This is a common theme here and in the US. I’m not saying we should believe her story 100%, but we shouldn’t be so dismissive, and aggressively so. Rape is traumatic, most aren’t reported because they’re so traumatic and because some police have difficulty dealing with it.
And to answer your question about how they can distinguish between consensual sex or rape, there are a myriad of ways to do so. Bruising, swelling, wounds, etc.
That’s not true, not even a little bit. Do some research on the matter. Bruises swelling even tears to the vagina cannot distinguish between vigorous consensual sex and rape. It’s a gray area everywhere in the world.
I’m really not trying to say the cops here are good, or competent, or even fair. I’m however saying that even if a prosecutor was a really good and fair person he would have treated the matter in the same way. Even a fair female feminist prosecutor would have similar doubt.
In fact I can assure you that a female prosecutor would have been much more forward and harsh with her. You have to understand that a prosecutor will not take a case in front of a judge without evidence. The circumstantial evidence is squarely against her, and the physical evidence only proves that they had sex.
As for why people, without having full information, jump to conclusions, well that’s not what I was doing. I’m discussing the legal merit of the case from the start. Just saying you believe her because of women’s rights or feminism is stupid. Equally saying that she was lying or deserved to be raped for going to his house is equally stupid.
This is truly a hard breaking story and if it’s true I hope that this girl get the justice she deserves.
But sadly I personally lean on doubt. Personally working in Al Nyaba I must say I disagree. 10 years in the job has actually showed me that they are more likely to show bias towards the women (sorry to say this but especially if she’s Kuwaiti). I sadly can’t back this up with statistics but this is my personal observation.
Another odd point is that they made her sign a paper without an attorney when it showed she had weak Arabic linguistic skills. I assure you she is not the first Kuwaiti private school educated women whom passed by and not the last. They will 99 percent of the time either help her out or wait for an attorney to help her.
As for procedure there is a system but this is where I personally do not enjoy French/Egyptian law. Everything is speculative unless there’s concrete evidence. For instance a drug dealer can have kgs upon kgs of drugs, but if the cops didn’t follow procedure it can burry the whole case. What I’m trying to say is that going to your ex’s house willingly with messages to prove is a week basis for starting a case.
Now I end this message with the following, please know that I will support any reform to help those with a week voice. Yes, Kuwait needs to train personnel on the emotional side of things and remember that calling a rape victim and asking her to recall the incident multiple times is beyond cruel.
But this is just an open question, what is the perfect law system. For instance a Norwegian friend of mine says that he enjoys the prison system and belief of rehabilitatong detainees but he detests the fact that a pedophile can get free food, education, in a comfortable cell whilst there are homeless people.
My opinion is that putting emotions on the side we must acknowledge that it is impossible to have a perfect justice system as it is relative. With that bieng said how can we protect the accused if we automatically used all resources to act like everyone is guilty until proven innocent. I’m sorry if I hit a cord with anyone and I am willing to read your thoughts on this as I could be wrong.
It’s ‘Heart breaking’ for future reference
Hahahhaha that’s not the only mistake but I was writing whilst cooking for the kids. 😂😂
When an unmarried man and woman are alone together, the devil is the third.
I have a female British lawyer friend who was raped in Kuwait and quite literally she went through the same thing as in the Reddit story. Decided to drop it.
But saying it wasn’t rape because she willingly entered his home….so if a lady is raped by a taxi driver, is it or isn’t it rape, since she willingly got into his taxi (whatever happened to the 2 different tries to get lady taxis here??)? What about if I enter a phone shop willingly and the guy grabs me – I shouldn’t have gone to a shop alone? What about the vast majority of tailors who are male making female clothing in the fabric souk? A lady is looking to buy fabric and willingly enters his shop…??
Willingly going near a male does not mean a woman wants to have sex with him.