Forced gynecological exams in Doha: Australians threaten Qatar with prosecution

Many women had been forced to undergo a pelvic exam at Doha airport right after a newborn baby was found in the toilet at the end of 2020 (illustrative image).

AP - Bullit Marquez

Text by: RFI Follow

1 min

Seven Australian women are threatening Qatar with legal action.

Like all the passengers on ten flights passing through Doha airport at the end of 2020, they had been ordered to have gynecological examinations by the airport police, who had found a few moments earlier an abandoned baby in the airport toilets. 

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With our correspondent in Sydney,

Because they do not want the trauma they suffered to be put under the carpet, seven Australian women, who underwent a forced gynecological exam last year at the Doha airport, decided to sue the government of Qatar , its civil air authority and its airline to court.

They are demanding financial compensation, guarantees that this type of incident will not happen again, and above all individual apologies.

So far,

on Twitter.

However, neither the government nor the embassy in Canberra responded to letters sent by these women. 

“ 

 ”laments one of their lawyers Damian Sturzaker

Today, by alerting public opinion, they hope that Doha will respond favorably to their demands without having to go to court.

But if this were to be the case, they have created an online kitty to finance their legal action, because a few months before the World Cup to be held in this ultra-conservative Gulf emirate, the plaintiffs want the authorities' assurance. Qatari women can safely transit through Doha.

►Also read: Qatar: female passengers forced to undergo gynecological examinations at Doha airport

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• Australia

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• Womens rights