Now this is terribly awkward

Norwegian interior designer, Marte Deborah Dalelv, has spoken out after being handed a 16-month prison sentence in Dubai, after she reported that she had been raped by a colleague. The 24-year-old was convicted and sentenced on charges of having unlawful sex, making a false statement and illegal consumption of alcohol.

Dalev was at a bar with her colleagues and friends, and asked a male colleague to walk her to her room. She passed out and ”I woke up with my clothes off, sleeping on my belly, and he was raping me. I tried to get off, I tried to get him off, but he pushed me back down.” When she was able to leave she called the police and reported the incident.  Dalelv said, “They asked me, ‘Are you sure you called the police because you just didn’t like it?’ I said, ‘Well of course I didn’t like it.’ That is when I knew, I don’t think they are going to believe me at all.”

Subsequently, she said her manager advised her to tell the police it was voluntary sexual intercourse so the issue would be resolved. She followed the advice and in one of the many hearings at the public prosecutor’s office, she made a statement saying it was voluntary. Dalelv was then charged with making a false statement. “That was my biggest regret because it wasn’t voluntary. I just thought it would all go away,” she said.
Dalelv was convicted Tuesday on all three charges and was sentenced to one year in jail for having unlawful sex, three months in jail for making a false statement and one month for illegal consumption of alcohol.