Dubai Princesses Who Tried Escaping Were Tranquillized: Report (insider.com), Sinéad Baker, May 2, 2023 Dubai princesses who tried to escape their controlling father were tranquilized after they were caught Remember, this is Arab culture, and their father is almost like a king. The father probably cares more about his public image and doesn't want his family to be scandalized. In some parts of the Muslim world women are killed to protect the family's "honor". How they see it is better your daughter is dead than it be known that your family has a loose woman who is sleeping around. And in Muslim culture, a young woman who goes off by herself unsupervised and wants to live the Western lifestyle is seen as a whore, practically the same thing. some excerpts from the article: The report detailed the escape attempts of two daughters of Dubai ruler Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum: Princesses Latifa and Shamsa. The report was based on interviews with people involved and looked at the communications of Latifa before and after her multiple escape attempts. Shamsa tried to escape her family while they were staying at her father's estate the UK in 2000, but she was caught by Emirati men, brought back to the estate and returned to Dubai, the report said. She continued her efforts to flee when she was back in Dubai, seeking the help of UK authorities. When the UK media reported the case, Shamsa lost any outside contact and was put under heavy sedation, the report said. She was later imprisoned, the report said, and Latifa wrote that Shamsa came back from prison as "only a shell of her former self, with all the will power tortured out of her." She said her sister was left "like a zombie" after she was given tranquilizers and antidepressants. Shamsa tried to kill herself three times while in prison, including by trying to set fire to her own cell, the report said. Latifa said that when her sister first came back from prison she was so used to the dark that she couldn't properly open her eyes and had to be led around by hand. Latifa later wrote to one of her helpers, saying of Shamsa that "They give her sedatives as well as psychiatric drugs every single day." Shamsa has not been seen in public since her escape attempt, a span of more than 20 years. Latifa also made multiple attempts to leave the country, and wrote that freedom was "something worth dying for." The New Yorker detailed an attempt she made in 2002, when she crept out of her mother's house at 16, in the first time she was outside alone in her life. She was caught in her attempt to travel to neighboring Oman, taken home, and beaten, the report said. She was then brought to a desert prison, and beaten for five hours, according to her writings cited by The New Yorker. She was beaten again, and ultimately kept in prison for 13 months. She was brought home in July 2003, where, after a week, she exploded with rage and demanded to see Shamsa, she wrote. Latifa said she was then tranquilized and locked up for two more years. Latifa also said she was tranquilized during her escape attempt in 2018, when she was taken from a ship that she was trying to use to flee. She said she was returned home by helicopter and then a private jet.
That's sad and messed up. I'm not sure what to do with it though. Demand they give women rights? Acknowledge that religion is screwed up, especially one stuck in medieval times completely untempered by secularism? Make a movie inspired by it where the princess prevails in the end?
There are many directions one could go with this, many indirect political implications. I want progressives to be aware of the all the horrible openly blatant things that go on in other parts of the world. These days, with Dubai being a trendy new tourist destination, a lot of people are visiting there. Mostly progressives, because Dubai has vibes like Los Vegas (mostly minus the drinking and gambling and scantily clad ladies, of course). And most of these progressives who travel there and have fun are blissfully unaware of the dark side to the country they visit.
Kudos, except Americans in general might be blissfully unaware. Laughable that you think that only the left has fun in Dubai.
