DUBAI // A prostitute who visited a police station to report a rape has been jailed for six months.
The Filipina woman, AS, 23, went to Al Muraqqabat station in December to report the attack when she was arrested for "immorality offences".
She was held there for five months while an investigation and court case were conducted.
The case has prompted an outcry from rights groups, who fear AS's treatment could deter other women from reporting sexual violence.
"Although she may have engaged in prostitution, it doesn't necessarily mean that men can take advantage of her weakness," said Nhel Morona, the secretary general of Migrante UAE, a rights group for foreign workers.
"She was raped and she has every right to report it.
"We are saddened by this turn of events. I hope this particular case will not deter other women from reporting a rape."
A consular official who attended the hearing yesterday said AS would be transferred to the Dubai Central Jail in Al Aweer this week.
"As a woman, I feel enraged," said Jhasmine Castillo-Cipriano, the co-ordinator for the UAE chapter of Gabriela (General Assembly Binding Women for Reforms, Integrity, Equality, Leadership and Action). "She was unable to defend her rights as a rape victim."
Last month, Manila's department of foreign affairs instructed their consulate in Dubai to visit AS at Muraqqabat station.
The consulate reported that she was being held on "immorality offences". She was later convicted of prostitution charges.
AS said a Pakistani man she met at a party had offered her a ride to another party. She said that when they reached the venue, no one else was there and he raped her. Another Pakistani posing as a policeman arrived and asked for her identification papers. She was then raped a second time, she said.
The men took her money, telephone and camera and told her she could recover them at Al Muraqqabat police station. But police there arrested her on immorality charges.
She did not ask for a lawyer to represent her in court and said she wanted to return to the Philippines to be with her four-year-old son. She arrived in Dubai on a tourist visa in September 2010.
"My daughter has been in jail for months," AS's 49-year-old mother said from her home in San Pablo City in the Philippines. "Her son has been asking us when she'll be back. We hope our government can help us send her home soon."
Benito Valeriano, the consul general in Dubai, said the consulate would help AS.
"She has already served some time and will be deported after serving her sentence," he said. "If she does not have an air ticket to return home, we will ask Manila for one."
rruiz@thenational.ae
* With additional reporting by Salam al Amir
2025 Fifa Club World Cup groups
Group A: Palmeiras, Porto, Al Ahly, Inter Miami.
Group B: Paris Saint-Germain, Atletico Madrid, Botafogo, Seattle.
Group C: Bayern Munich, Auckland City, Boca Juniors, Benfica.
Group D: Flamengo, ES Tunis, Chelsea, (Leon banned).
Group E: River Plate, Urawa, Monterrey, Inter Milan.
Group F: Fluminense, Borussia Dortmund, Ulsan, Mamelodi Sundowns.
Group G: Manchester City, Wydad, Al Ain, Juventus.
Group H: Real Madrid, Al Hilal, Pachuca, Salzburg.
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
Formula Middle East Calendar (Formula Regional and Formula 4)
Round 1: January 17-19, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 2: January 22-23, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 3: February 7-9, Dubai Autodrome – Dubai
Round 4: February 14-16, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 5: February 25-27, Jeddah Corniche Circuit – Saudi Arabia
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5.10pm: Continous
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