A group of women is suing Qatar Airways and the Qatar aviation authority for invasive and non-consensual vaginal examinations at Doha Airport in October 2020. The lawsuit was filed in the New South Wales Registry of the Federal Court of Australia.
According to the lawsuit, the women were taken to ambulances on the tarmac, some at gunpoint, locked inside and told to remove their underwear for an examination.
Four of the women were locked in an ambulance with a masked woman, who then conducted non-consensual vaginal examinations. One of them was forced to leave her five-month-old baby on the plane.
The fifth woman was 73 years old and legally blind at the time of the incident, so she was not subjected to the vaginal exam.
According to a report in Out Traveler, five of 13 women who were flying from Doha to Sydney on Qatar Airways flight QR908 on Oct 2, 2020, were escorted out of the plane without any explanation.
One of the victims, a nurse, 33 told the New York Times in an interview that she dare not travel after the incident. “It completely changed me as a person that day. It seems like they’ve just moved on, they’re not sorry for it. They’re going on with their lives normally while we’re all here, quite affected,” she said.
ABC News reported that the authorities had found a premature newborn infant in one of the terminal’s bathrooms and were concerned “about the health and welfare” of the mother. Women from some 10 other flights were also allegedly subjected to the same.
In a joint interview with Lawyers Weekly and Australia Aviation, Damian Sturzaker who is representing the five women said, “After two years of trying to sit down with the State of Qatar and resolve the matter amicably, this group of teachers, nurses and artists were left with no alternative but to take on this David and Goliath battle.”
Officials from the airline said that the searches were wholly inconsistent with Qatar’s culture and values and apologized. The airport officer who arranged the searches was arrested and later given a suspended sentence.
Australia’s Prime Minister Scott Morrison said the searches were appalling, and Foreign Minister Marise Payne called it grossly disturbing and offensive.
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