Trigger warning: explicit description of self-harm and spousal abuse

A United Arab Emirates flight attendant from Ireland will finally be able to fly back to her home country after enduring an absolute nightmare in Dubai, UAE. The cabin crew worker had been detained in the Emirati capital city after being charged with attempting to end her life amid domestic abuse.

On Wednesday afternoon (July 10), Irish Prime Minister Simon Harris announced that the travel ban keeping Tori Towey captive in Dubai was lifted.

Radha Stirling, chief executive for the human rights organization Detained in Dubai, also confirmed that the Dubai authorities officially withdrew the charges against the 28-year-old.

The Irish embassy in the UAE will now bring the domestic abuse survivor and her mother, Caroline McElroy Towey, who traveled to be with her daughter, to the airport to get a flight home as soon as they are ready to do so, the Irish Examiner reported on Wednesday.

Emirates flight attendant Tori Towey will finally be able to fly back to Ireland after enduring an absolute nightmare in Dubai

Image credits: Detained In Dubai

Tori’s case was raised earlier this week in the Dáil Éireann, the lower house of Ireland‘s parliament, where elected officials make and discuss laws.

After being hospitalized with extensive injuries following an alleged assault by her husband, the airline worker’s plight was brought up by Irish republican and democratic socialist political party Sinn Féin’s Mary Lou McDonald.

“Her passport has been destroyed,” McDonald said, the Irish Examiner reported on Tuesday (July 9). “There was a travel ban imposed on her and she had gone to the authorities seeking protection many times but to absolutely no avail.”

Image credits: Detained In Dubai

The Irish politician continued: “But following one particularly severe beating in which her husband repeatedly tried to slam doors on her arms and break her limbs, she escaped upstairs, and she attempted to take her own life.

“The system over there, rather than protecting this woman, who is an Irish citizen, chose instead to detain her, to charge her.”

In the UAE, women often face significant challenges in securing protection and justice, especially in cases of abuse and sexual violence. 

Tori had been detained in the Emirati capital city after being charged with attempting to end her life amid domestic abuse

Image credits: Detained In Dubai

Victims of rape risk being charged with “illicit sex,” which can lead to imprisonment or flogging, as seen in the 2010 case of an Emirati woman sentenced to jail after reporting her gang rape, as per the United Nations’​ PeaceWomen​. 

Despite some legal reforms, Emirati laws still discriminate against women, particularly in areas like personal status and domestic violence, leaving many without adequate legal protection or recourse, Human Rights Watch stated in 2021.

Tori moved to Dubai last year to work as an airline attendant. She married a man in March, whose identity has not been revealed.

Image credits: Detained In Dubai

According to Roscommon, Ireland Member of the Dáil (TD) Claire Kerrane, the cabin crew member soon began being mentally and physically abused.

At the time of the Dáil session, Kerrane said that Tori’s mom, Caroline, was in Dubai with her daughter and it was “a living nightmare.”

The TD revealed: “She was put in a cell with 50 women, there was no information, she wasn’t told why she had been arrested, what she was being charged with.”

After being hospitalized with extensive injuries following an alleged assault by her husband, Tori’s plight was brought up in the Dáil Éireann

Bringing Tori Towey home safely is a priority for all TDs.

She is not a criminal, she is a victim of abuse and the charges against her must be dropped TODAY.

The UAE must take heed that this is not acceptable, women are not chattel and deserve rights and protection. pic.twitter.com/6f9DLR5m6x

— Sinn Féin (@sinnfeinireland) July 10, 2024

“Then there’s the language barrier too. It’s just horrendous.

“There was a small bit of alcohol in her system so she was charged with alcohol abuse. And with ‘attempted suicide.’” 

Although Tori went to the police, she was told to go home to her abusive husband, as Kerrane explained: “He ripped up her passport, so she couldn’t work as an airline attendant, then she had no money, so she couldn’t come home.” 

Image credits: sinnfeinireland

A travel ban was subsequently placed on Tori’s passport, so she could not escape.

During one allegedly brutal attack in her home, it’s understood she escaped into the bathroom and tried to take her own life in a bid to escape her husband, fearing he would torture her to death, the Irish Examiner reported.

Kerrane recounted: “The next thing she knew, paramedics were there.”

Irish Prime Minister Simon Harris announced that the travel ban keeping Tori captive in Dubai was lifted on Wednesday (July 10)

🚨Breaking news: Travel ban lifted. Tori Towey will now travel home. We await her safe return. Thank you to everybody for your support pic.twitter.com/XDvgJUu69T

— Mary Lou McDonald (@MaryLouMcDonald) July 10, 2024

“Then she was arrested on June 28 and had no idea what she had been arrested for.” 

Tori’s aunt, Anne Flynn, told RTÉ radio’s Morning Ireland at the time: “We are just all very, very anxious.

“We keep hoping that we’ll get word that they’re on a plane. On the way home. I don’t know.” 

Image credits: Tori Towey

“Will this court case go ahead? Or if it goes, what will happen? 

“You know, we’re just very hopeful. And it’s really terrible that this has happened to a young woman that was full of life and full of adventure.

“And she loved traveling. And, you know, she’s a beautiful young woman.”

Tori moved to Dubai last year to work as an airline attendant. She married a man in March, whose identity has not been revealed

Image credits: Detained In Dubai

Flynn added: “We’re hoping that just something will happen that it won’t go to court. It’s hard to believe that this young woman has been charged with trying to commit suicide.”

Now that Tori is finally heading back to Ireland, Irish Minister for Foreign Affairs Micheál Martin reportedly welcomed the positive resolution to the case.

He said it has been a challenging and traumatic time for Tori, but she is now doing well, as per the Irish Examiner.

It is reportedly not yet known when Tori and her mom will be getting a flight home, but Martin said that work is underway to facilitate their return as quickly as possible.

“Dubai has some explaining to do,” a reader commented

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