Qatar Airways ‘Regrets’ Making Women Strip
- 82newsbulletin
- Nov 6, 2020
- 2 min read
Written by Karrie Lam
It was early October when Qatar Airways strip-searched all adult-women passengers on one of their flights and conducted invasive medical exams on 13 Australian women. These exams followed the discovery of an abandoned newborn in the trashcan of a Hamad International Airport (Doha) bathroom and the intention was to check for signs of who had recently given birth. The incident only came to light because some of the women decided to speak up about their traumatic incident, of which Qatar expresses ‘regret’ for.
Led one by one to the ambulances, the women were not made aware of why they were brought away from the rest and undergoing such exams. Australian director of Amnesty International called the incident a “gross violation of these women’s human rights.”
In Qatar, sex, pregnancy and childbirth outside of marriage is illegal which sometimes results in secret pregnancies or difficulties in registering for a child’s birth certificate as authorities may compare the date of marriage against the approximate date of conception. Women accused of such crimes, even those impregnated from rape, could face arrest or imprisonment.
The incident also raises concerns over whether tourists like ourselves might be legally subjected to similar procedures when travelling through the airport in Qatar.
Might these patriarchal frameworks that discriminate against women and discipline their bodies ever be annihilated?
Click below for further reading!
DISCLAIMER: The contents of this website are solely owned by the author of each article and does not represent the views of the Awareness Committee or the Editorial team.
Comments