Detained in Dubai says that the UAE has “a long history of penalising rape victims” for having sex outside of marriage.

The call comes after a 25 year-old British woman was this week charged with having “extramarital sex” after allegedly being raped by two men, the Independent reports.

After reporting the incident to police, the woman was detained and is prohibited from leaving Dubai, while her alleged attackers have flown home.

Radha Stirling, director and founder, Detained in Dubai, said: “Recent cases and the horrible case at hand, show that it is still not safe for victims to report these crimes to the police without the risk of suffering a double punishment.”

She added: “This is tremendously disturbing. Police regularly fail to differentiate between consensual intercourse and violent rape. Victims go to them expecting justice, and end up being prosecuted. They not only invalidate their victimisation, they actually punish them for it."

A petition to raise the estimated £25,000 legal fees needed by the victim has been started by her family and is around half way towards its target.