Bahrain: Defence Lawyer Dismisses Rape As “Harmless Fun”

Bahrain

Wednesday, March 4th, 2009
by Ayesha Saldanha

A court case involving the alleged abduction and gang rape of a woman has caught the attention of some of Bahrain's bloggers, because of the act was dismissed as harmless fun by the female defence lawyer.

A court case involving the alleged abduction and gang rape of a woman has caught the attention of some of Bahrain's bloggers, because of the act was dismissed as harmless fun by the female defence lawyer.

The lawyer, Fatima Al Hawaj, said that the three young men accused of the abduction and attack of a Filipina should be acquitted, because young people often commit crimes for “fun”, without criminal intent. Coolred, an American living in Bahrain, is appalled:

I'm wondering if that defense attorney, Fatima alHawaj, would be willing to subject herself to a gang rape and come out of it with the philosophy..."it was all a bit of harmless fun"? And I wonder if she would have said that if the victim had been a fellow Bahraini and not just a low class Filipino that are usually classed as “sexually available” to the Arabs they work for and among?

I also took note of the fact that the “youths” in question were 19, 20, 21…I'm curious as to why MEN of this age are always described as youths in the paper here whenever they commit such heinous crimes? […]

Final note…with women defending men like this…women lawyers at that…with the phrase “harmless fun” the perpetuation of the belief that “boys will be boys” will never be cast aside and the action they undertook viewed exactly for what it is…a crime against a woman that has no doubt changed her life and will never be forgotten…but I dare say…if she hadnt been able to identify those 3 “boys” they would have tossed the memory of their night of harmless fun behind them and gotten a good nights sleep in the process.

Maldita, a Filipina based in Bahrain, who blogs at Saving The World Together, is also incensed:
How can gang-raping and robbing a defenseless woman be considered as “HARMLESS FUN”? Fine, they MAY have done it for the lack of better things to do in their free time and they do not have any small intent at all to commit a crime. BUT THAT IS NOT AN EXCUSE to go about grabbing women off the streets to add spice to their lives!

True, young people often do crazy things for fun - a lot try their hand on shoplifting, some engage in road rages, others turn to drugs. The norm is young people try to commit minor misdemeanor that would usually end up with a stern reprimand from their guardians or inflict harm only among themselves. It is the misguided ones who goes for major stuff like this. Stuff that forcefully involves people who are innocently going on with their own lives. […]

If these teenagers really did what they are accused of, how sad that a woman's life is now scarred for life with this horror…and yet there is the possibility that her assailants will walk free and not suffer the consequences of their actions.