Marcus, from Tottenham, North London, had been enjoying a holiday with his parents when he met a fellow Brit at the same hotel. A holiday fling sparked and the pair spent time together until the girl, also from London, flew back to Britain.
In Dubai, if an adult has a sexual relationship with a person under 18, they can be prosecuted for having a sexual relationship with a minor. The relationship would be legal in the UK.
Marcus and his parents were set to fly back shortly after - but their plans were thrown into chaos when police knocked on their hotel room door. The “terrified” teenager was then reportedly hauled in for questioning without any explanation and held at the Al Barsha Police Station, DID said. He spent three days there, during which time he was not allowed to make a phone call or speak with his parents, it is claimed.
The age difference is less than a year are you fucking insane, legality is not morality and we should always push back against unjust laws
…in Dubai? No one has a voice there
you have no idea how easy but low it is to trick an underage girlfriend into sex. age of consent is 18 regardless of age difference for a reason. if you have an underage girlfriend, you should wait until she can consent and choose what to do with her body
Does that suddenly become difficult when they pass an arbitrary date? This girl was months away from turning 18. Nobody involved in this case is even a citizen of Dubai.
I’m usually the last person to make this type of comment, but these circumstances are absurd.
You realize in the vast majority of the world there ARE exceptions for exactly this reason. Teenagers do what they’re gonna do.
What do you think on your 18th birthday you magically grow a consent organ? If they’re both teenagers there’s really no issue.
Where is that the law?
well, in Iraq it’s 9. afganistan it’s 2 probably, but dubai, and so many other countries made the law to be 18. and if you asked me, it’s good they enforced such age limit for Dubai considering its rampant international prostitution businesses there. If they didn’t, you would see 14 yr olds from east south asia getting trafficed there by the tens of thousands
There are exceptions made to laws all the time. And exceptions are almost always made when it’s sex between a 17 and 18-year-old.
Just not in crazy theocratic countries.
Weird hill to die on but ok. Again, the law itself can be argued about, breaking it not really. No one made him jump in bed, nor is the law some violation of human rights. “Don’t shag people under 18” is not a tall ask.
For people with fully formed brains, sure.
For a literal teenager going through puberty, on vacation in a hot, foreign place, that runs into someone they’re attracted to who is from the same place as them? Yeah, not so much. It’s literal biology.
I sure see that splattered all over the passport and travel office