Detained in Dubai, is a UK-based legal advice group. Citing what it calls the UAE's long history of penalizing rape victims, it has made the extraordinary decision to advice women not to report if they are raped, to the country's authorities.
Radha Stirling, founder and director of Detained in Dubai, said:
"Recent cases… show that it is still not safe for victims to report these crimes to the police without the risk of suffering a double punishment."
She added that "racist preconceptions" prevailing among some Emiratis — that foreign women who drink alcohol are at least partly responsible if they are assaulted — can be hard to fight.
"We get people contacting us asking whether they should report a crime and — whether it be a rape or anything else — I often say no. Absolutely not," said Ms. Stirling.
"It's about the laws for one, but it also comes down to the application of the law. Police there do get a lot of rape claims that are false, many of which come from disgruntled prostitutes who retaliate by reporting false criminal claims."
"Because of this the police are wary of false accusations, so when a report does come in they think, 'Oh, maybe the girl was just drunk and then she regretted it the next day'."
Reporting crime in the UAE can lead to retaliatory counter criminal accusations that are taken equally as seriously, with great consequence
— Detained in Dubai (@detainedindubai) November 17, 2016
The treatment of women in UAE has hit international headline again, following the recent case of a 25-year-old British woman from Cheshire, in the north of England.
She was on holiday in Dubai, where she claims was gang-raped by two other Brits in a hotel room, who filmed the ordeal.
After she reported the crime, her passport was confiscated and she was not allowed to leave the UAE.
Instead, she has been charged for being involved in "extramarital sex", which in the UAE is punishable by imprisonment, deportation, floggings and stoning to death.
Detained in Dubai, which is providing support for the woman and her family, say the two Brits she accuses of assaulting her have been able to fly back to the UK, and have had no charges filed against them.
In a statement, the UK Foreign Office said:
"We are supporting a British woman in relation to this case and will remain in contact with her family."
However, Detained in Dubai, say not enough is being done to protect women in the UAE.
"We have been involved with several cases in the past where this has happened," said Ms. Stirling.
Indeed, there have been several incidents involving foreign women falling foul of the UAE legal system in the past.
In a similar case in 2008, Australian Alicia Gali was jailed for eight months in Fujairah after she reported being gang-raped by three co-workers.
And in 2009, a South African woman, Roxanne Hillier, was jailed for three months, for spending time alone with a male employer, to whom she was not married, despite medical reports indicating that she did not have sex.
And for Emirati women, they also face many elements of Sharia, or Islamic, law, which governs their day-to-day lives.
Campaigning organization Human Rights Watch (HRW) published a 2016 report on the UAE, highlighting the problems women face if their husband's challenge them legally.
Time to Take Action for Women in the United Arab Emirates http://t.co/8tAz64XIo1 by @Rothna_Begum via @annahar #UAE pic.twitter.com/yk60cWU3Sy
— Human Rights Watch (@hrw) March 10, 2015
HRW accused the authorities in the UAE, of leaving women vulnerable to abuse, through "failing to respond adequately to reports of domestic violence".
"The law provides that, for a woman to marry, her male guardian must conclude her marriage contract; men have the right to unilaterally divorce their wives, whereas a woman who wishes to divorce her husband must apply for a court order," HRW report says.
"A woman can lose her right to maintenance if, for example, she refuses to have sexual relations with her husband if she does not have a lawful excuse; and women are required to "obey" their husbands.
"A woman may be considered disobedient, with few exceptions, if she decides to work without her husband's consent."
Human Rights Watch also warned that there are no independent women's rights organizations in the UAE.
Meanwhile, the UK Foreign Office's official travel advice for the UAE states:
"The UAE is a Muslim country. Laws and customs are very different to those in the UK. You should respect local traditions, customs, laws and religions at all times. There may be serious penalties for doing something that might not be illegal in the UK."
