“I personally discovered this disturbing,” Dr. Babeck, a regulation professor who was returning to Australia after visiting his sick father in Germany, stated on Monday.
After they returned, Dr. Babeck stated, many appeared “shellshocked,” and others have been crying. “Everyone was, after all, determined to get residence,” he added.
At the very least 13 of the ladies have been from Australia, based on studies the ladies gave to the Australian authorities. Some passengers on the identical flight recommended that, based mostly on data offered to them by the police, their aircraft won’t have been the one one on which girls have been compelled to undergo the invasive exams.
The Doha episode shined a harsh mild on the therapy of girls in a rustic the place systemic gender disparity and oppression are frequent, and the place it’s unlawful to have intercourse or develop into pregnant exterior of marriage. Native girls charged with such a criminal offense, often called “zina,” may be imprisoned.
The chief government of Qatar Airways, Akbar Al Baker, was accused of sexism in 2018 when he stated that girls have been incapable of doing his job as a result of it was “very difficult.” He later apologized.
The episode additionally raised the query of whether or not overseas girls touring by way of the airport in Qatar might legally be topic to the identical legal guidelines, and to invasive and doubtlessly nonconsensual procedures, consultants stated.
Jessica, the nurse, stated that she and the opposite girls have been divided into teams of 4 and led onto the tarmac towards two ambulances. She and not less than one different lady have been informed to lie down on a desk and take away their underwear, she stated. The ambulance she was in had home windows with out blinds, she stated, and greater than a dozen males have been standing exterior. The expertise lasted about 15 to 20 minutes, she stated.
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