Videos secretly filmed by an abducted princess underline the discrimination and threat of violence faced by Emirati women

“I’m a hostage, I’m not free … I am enslaved, imprisoned in this jail, my life is not in my hands … I have been by myself in solitary confinement with no trial and no charge.” These are the words of Sheikha Latifa bint Mohammed bin Rashid, the 36-year-old daughter of the ruler of Dubai. She revealed details about her alleged forced confinement in a Dubai villa in secretly filmed videos, which were broadcast in a BBC Panorama documentary on Tuesday – several months after her friends lost all contact with her.

They are the first videos of Latifa to emerge since her abduction and forcible return to Dubai in March 2018, when she was captured off the coast of Goa by Indian forces working in coordination with the United Arab Emirates. In the video she says she lives in a villa “converted into a jail” with all the windows barred shut, two female police officers inside the house and five male police officers stationed outside. She says she is not allowed outside and is filming in the bathroom as it’s the only room she can lock.

Rothna Begum is a senior women’s rights researcher focusing on the Middle East and North Africa at Human Rights Watch

This post was originally published on Human rights | The Guardian.