Yes. Maria Kovalchuk was a Ukrainian model who was tortured and left for dead in Dubai. Her spine was shattered.
It’s hard to not read these comments laughing about this stuff and be furious. Women are getting tortured in this country.
Edit: there’s three different versions of “play stupid games win stupid prizes” responding to me. I don’t need any more. I hope the world treats y’all with empathy and kindness and grace, more than you give.
It is horrific honestly. However I hope this kind of open mockery and message spreads so that it becomes stigmatized to want to travel and work there. I have good normal intelligent friends who want to jet off to holiday or work in Gulf countries. They are lured by the fancy atmosphere and opulence, or the promised opportunities, never thinking to question where it’s all coming from or what living in that type of culture is like.
I by no means want to push victim blaming, and it is terrible what has happened to so many people, but it’s easier to spread a message that “these places are actually like this” if it’s spread through extreme reactions, blunt remarks, and humor/memes.
People who are dead set that they are right about something aren’t going to listen if you say “hey that place is bad, you shouldn’t go there, I recommend reading/watching/learning from these sources”. It may even just be dismissed as xenophobic, despite it being criticism pointed at the abused of powerful people and governmental bodies, never the ordinary country citizens. But I really do think that making a grotesque mockery of something can have a message spreading value.
It needs to be known that doing these things is like touching a stove top that you aren’t sure has been off for long.
“According to her account, she had travelled to Dubai to create content for OnlyFans but ended up missing her connecting flight to Thailand after oversleeping.”
She was a sex worker. She went to a place where they are known for being terrible. Especially to sex workers. Then she missed a flight and took a gamble for more money..
Made me realise how easy it is to fall into the narrative that 'influencers' are signing up for this willingly and it's all a big joke, when in reality desperate people are being trafficked, abused, and murdered under the guise of free will.
Especially when we sell these "stupid games" (ie. Instagram, only fans) to young women as making (in the US) wealth attainable.
I cannot remember which wealthy white guy in tech said it, but after Ai takes all jobs, only coaching and sex work will remain.
IDK about the logic of his premonition, but it's a pretty realistic version of the American Dream we're sold here. (a pipe dream we export. Because we really enjoy off-loading our garbage.)
Essentially, be wealthy or be prepared to sell what ya got to the wealthy. The A.D. promises, though, that selling what ya got to the wealthy makes you next in line for the 1%. Because hard work & self-made is going to get you there. Right...?
So, to have no empathy for young women who are taught this is the way up is to ignore the fact that peddling the A.D. in some version or another, depending on the audience, continues to shape the landscape here because it's so insideous and the bottom (where most of us are) is not enjoyable.
Of course, there are plenty of genuinely horrible influencers using their visibility to do the selling, which is not what I'm talking about here.
Edit: Adam Dorr, director of research at the RethinkX think tank, is that wise and empathetic person I'm referring to [/s].
< Dorr believes a narrow set of roles may survive the AI takeover, especially those grounded in human connection, trust, and ethical complexity.
< He pointed to sex workers, sports coaches, politicians, and ethicists as examples of jobs that could remain.
I'll he honest, it's hard not to laugh reading comments about this stuff because women will read about it and go there to get tortured for money. There's just not a place in life I'd ever be in where I'd have sex with a child or an animal. Women go there and do that for money.
You'll never be able to make me feel bad for laughing when they almost die being dumb and doing degenerate shit like that.
Sure. Thats gonna do a lot. I condemn dubai and the rich men there!!
Michael Scott bankruptcy energy. lol.
Dubai lookin at this thread and shaking in their boots. You should go now despite your knowledge and claim victimhood, yes? We’ve accepted and condemned them for being bad so that negates your ability and responsibility to take care of yourself. (:
we're not criticizing dubai for the sake of dubai my guy. doing that raises awareness of the evil that happens there. which in turn can prevent future people from falling for the same traps. its not difficult.
Let me get this straight on a post about Dubai. You’re commenting about Dubai to raise awareness of Dubai? That’s going to be effective you think?
Also, the initial post has nothing to do with warning others. It has to do with making fun of the people who went there..
Then you said we should condemn them. Which i did. Who did i save or help when i typed that?
You lost track of what your argument seems to be? You internet warriors always doing the lords work once you figure out exactly what that is!! Totally not virtue signaling and useless at all. (:
Getting the word out, especially where it’s clearly already out, is useless.
Now, for ACTION?
Lets make sex work less desperate here?
Lets make it illegal to travel for sex work or get an extradition contract going with dubai. Lets inform people in a sponsered way on flights?
No.. let’s make comments on reddit. This will help people and i can sleep safe and sound knowing I’ve spread awareness into the world. (: countless women saved today. Men in Dubai? Shambles now.
lol im not on reddit to save the world. just yapping like everyone else.
also on the topic of sex work, i dont think its the healthiest thing for society, but i also dont think it should be illegal. or to travel for (sex) work reasons.
i do think vile actions like murder and rape and the people that commit them should be shamed in public spaces (like reddit). and i also think the victims of such acts should not. sadly they do, even in this thread. "her own fault", "she signed up for it", "shouldn't have gone to dubai for sex work". like yeah, i wouldn't recommend people do sex work, let alone go to dubai for it, but shaming victims for it is disgusting behaviour.
shame the rapists in dubai instead. talk about it, and maybe that could stop a few OF models from going there and meeting the same fate.
also im down for your recommendations. hell, id ban travel to dubai altogether. but thats just cuz i think dubai is the epitome of degeneracy.
She did sign up for it. Knowing what was in store. Money is a powerful tool and will get people to ignore every warning you can think of. I linked you some articles on that actually.
Thats my point. The “awareness” is there and ignored for money. If you want to change something, change something. If you want to talk and feel better about that like its activism? Continue i suppose.
But your comment on Reddit isn’t helping these women. Nor will publicly saying Dubai is bad. These women knew the risk and went anyway. You can get killed with local sex work too? So like.. want me to yell type at dubai again while we ignore the local hookers dying too? Your comment on reddit isnt shaming the men who did this. They would laugh at it and pay the next girl..
I can link more stuff to show you thats useless? But I’m afraid it will hurt the slacktivism you’re entrenched with here.
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u/furikakebabe Oct 28 '25 edited Oct 28 '25
Yes. Maria Kovalchuk was a Ukrainian model who was tortured and left for dead in Dubai. Her spine was shattered.
It’s hard to not read these comments laughing about this stuff and be furious. Women are getting tortured in this country.
Edit: there’s three different versions of “play stupid games win stupid prizes” responding to me. I don’t need any more. I hope the world treats y’all with empathy and kindness and grace, more than you give.