Afsana is of Bangladeshi origin and the authorities, she tells me, refuse to believe she is British, although she is an LSE graduate with a British accent. A court official in the UAE claimed that the only reason Afsana's case was getting any attention from the British press "was due to her good looks". 

In March 2013 a woman from Norway who was in Dubai for business was raped in a hotel. She was arrested and sentenced to 16 months in prison. After pressure from the Norwegian government and media, the woman was released and subsequently pardoned, as was her rapist. Last December an Austrian woman was raped and arrested. A campaign on her behalf, along with pressure from the Austrian media, resulted in her being pardoned.

Yet also in February a report by the Social Progress Index was widely reported in the Dubai press: it ranked the UAE number one in the world for treating women with respect. This claim was based on a so-called "major scientific study" that compared development and wellbeing among 132 nations of the world.

Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum said the evidence on respect for women reflected "fundamental truths about Emirati culture and traditions". But the women I spoke to who had had cause to seek help after fleeing violent husbands certainly do not hold that view.

I met a European journalist who has been living in Dubai for more than a decade and wishes to remain anonymous. I asked if he had noticed any significant improvements in the status of Emirati women during his time in the UAE, and he told me "no". He added: "How can the rulers be so against [sex] trafficking when prostitution is so tolerated and under the control of the police?

"I don't think local women are at the stage of being able to go to the police and report their husbands for domestic violence. I can't imagine where [the DFWC] get their funding aside from the government, which makes me wonder whether it exists simply to give the impression that something is being done to help these victims."

Had he witnessed much resistance to such an unequal society, not just for women but in protest against the slave-like conditions experienced by many migrant workers?

"The vanguards of the Left [in the UAE] all have their maids, so if they don't see what is wrong with that, there is little hope for the others. And political Islam has been emboldened lately, so there are major difficulties convincing the majority that these human rights abuses should be tackled head-on."

On my final day in Dubai I went to the Jumeirah Beach Hotel for Friday brunch, an institution for expats and tourists willing to part with £70 in return for free-flowing alcohol and limitless food. Hungry Britons thronged the several food stations, the busiest being the roast beef with all the trimmings. It was 40oC outside and the beach was packed with tourists in bikinis and shorts sunbathing and playing volleyball. I approached a table of Britons and asked about views of Emirati laws and, in particular, the status of women in Dubai.

"The women here have no rights," said Simon, a Londoner living in Dubai. "It is different for the expat women, but the locals are lower than dogs as far as men are concerned." I asked him why he had this impression. "I was told not to go into my office late at night if the [female] cleaner was there, because it is against the law for a Muslim woman to be alone in a room with a man."