As I sit in my home, my Western safe haven, where no harm can befall me accept the monotony of every day decisions, I am becoming increasingly despondent with the state of affairs in Saudi Arabia, where a rape victim can be beaten, jailed and even killed, just for being a victim. The crime of rape on a whole regularly goes unpunished in Western countries due to lack of judicial fervour or because the crime itself goes unreported. However in Saudi Arabia they take a different, harsher approach to the matter at hand. If you are raped, forced to do something against your will, which you never asked for and which will invariably have a devastating and profound affect on the rest of your life, according to the male orientated population of judges and police officers in Saudi, it is your fault!

You must have done something wrong. And yet I fail to see how anyone, no matter what they may have done, deserves to be raped; let alone then physically punished for a crime which was committed against them. I was of the opinion that the judicial system of any country was in place to actively protect the citizen's of that country, not however to further humiliate, degrade and punish a person who is completely blameless in their present situation.

If a rape victim can be treated this way in any country across the world, then there is something wrong with that society and with the other countries that let it continue! The problem is two-fold, the strict interpretation of the Islamic Sharia Law and what seems to be a cold contempt, indifference and bordering on a hatred of women. I say this not with malice or a distaste of the Saudi people, but with a distaste for their heinous treatment of another human being, who has been hurt and defiled in possibly one of the worst ways possible, only to be hurt and defiled all over again by those who are supposed to protect her.

In a 2007 case a 19 year old woman who was seated in a car with a man other than a family member, was kidnapped, both she and the man she was with were raped. Despite the two gang rapes, it was only she and her companion who were legally punished by the Saudi courts. The girl originally being sentenced to 90 lashes and a prison term, which was later increased to 200 lashes, her companion also received 90 lashes, for meeting with the girl in private.

The Saudi "justice" ministry, publicly stated that the ruling was legal and followed the "the book of God and the teachings of the Prophet Muhammad," despite an international outcry from human rights groups. I find this treatment of another human being absolutely condemnable and frankly paramount with Hitlers treatment of the Jewish people during the Second World War. There is no justifiable way that the Saudi Government can condone their actions regarding this matter. A rape VICTIM is someone who was placed in a vulnerable situation by another person for that person's own twisted gain, a rape VICTIM is someone who had been hurt, humiliated, degraded and who may never recover, a rape VICTIM is someone who needs help, and does not deserve to be beaten and jailed for something which was not their fault. Not to mention that I am sure that the Prophet Muhammad would not want anyone to suffer and that the whole point of the teachings of GOD was 'do unto others and you would have them do unto you.'

I am also outraged at the thought regarding rape and women in general in Saudi Arabia. If a woman can be gang raped for no apparent reason and then be punished for the privilege, this shows that men in Saudi Arabia have absolutely no regard or feeling for women whatsoever. This being the case, I should like to point out that women outnumber men in the world's population, and that women give men life, and without meaning to sound too much of a feminist, perhaps instead of raping, beating and belittling the only chance at survival of human kind on a global scale, (women), perhaps the Saudi Arabian men should try cherishing women for what they are, instead of using them and treating them worse than animals. You may be able to run a country and make laws, but it's women who will bare and raise your children, women who will inevitably ensure that life as we know it goes on, and despite your laws or religion, nothing you can do will ever change that.

I have absolutely no malice towards the Saudi Arabian people or government, however I can not help but feel that they are wrong in their regular course of action pertaining to rape victims, and that they should reassess their laws, if not for the good of their own people, then at least for the good of their international reputation.