Why UAE women won't report crimes against them

Published Tuesday, September 04, 2012

By Mohammed Al Sadafy

Women in the UAE are unlikely to report a crime committed against them by a man, a new study commissioned by the Dubai Police has revealed.

According to the report, prepared by Dr Mohammed Murad Abdullah, Director, Centre for Decision Support at Dubai Police, 34.3 per cent of Emiratis polled will not inform the police about crimes that happen against them, and women are even more likely not to report crimes of men against them.

The study entitled ‘Violence against Women in the UAE’, showed that crimes committed against expatriates (non-UAE) are more likely to be reported.

The study was presented on Monday at a conference organised by the National Center for Statistics in Abu Dhabi. The conference will continue until Thursday.

The study listed the top 10 reasons for women not reporting crimes in the UAE based on its research and ground evidence.

These were:

Honour

Fear of contempt of society

Shame stemming from women's own vulnerability to attack

Fear of retaliation

Pressure from parents and family

Love and jealousy

No community acceptance, especially in cases involving a male friend

Nomadic and tribal traditions

Fear of further violence

Privacy, customs and traditions for Gulf women

The study also listed the most common forms of violence experienced by women.

These were listed as:

Physical

Sexual (Including rape and indecent assault)

Verbal

Behavioural

Health (Preventing women from getting necessary healthcare)

Domestic

Psychological

Social (Denial of women's right to education or work or exercise)

Economic (Seizing wife's salary without her consent or force it to give up her rights)

Political

Silence as a code of honour

The study revealed that honour was the prime reason for women not to report a crime.

The percentage of women polled in the study who said they would not report a crime because of honour was as high as 94.4 per cent.