A Norwegian woman has been handed down a jail sentence in Dubai after she reported a rape.

Marte Deborah Dalelv was ordered by the courts to serve 16 months for having sex outside marriage.

The Norwegian woman, who received the verdict on Wednesday, has decided to make her case public in the hopes of drawing attention to the complex and conservative legal system in the Gulf city-state, one which is highly Islamic-influenced.

The twenty-four-year old was on a business trip in Dubai when the alleged rape occurred in March. Talking about the night of the rape she said she: "woke up and I realised I was being raped and I went down to the lobby and I asked them to call the police for me."

"They asked me are you sure you want to call the police? And I thought of course I want to call the police because that's the natural reaction where I am from."

Norwegian Marte Deborah Dalelv has been sentenced to jail after she reported a rape

Ms Dalelv said that immediately after reporting the rape she was placed in a cell, where she was left for days before she was allowed to use a phone.

Sex before marriage is completely forbidden in Dubai, and under UAE law, rapists can only be convicted if the perpetrator confesses, or if four adult Muslim males witness the crime.