To be disgusted with Qatars assault on these women?

[ChristmasStocckings]

I'm honestly shocked at how these poor women have been treated and my heart breaks for them. How on earth did anyone think that this was ok? No one should be forced to have an examination that they did not consent too. There is no excuse for this behaviour.

www.news.com.au/travel/travel-updates/incidents/doha-dfat-registers-serious-concerns-after-women-pulled-off-plane-strip-searched/news-story/f4eb941d267c2211605238a574935995

It's absolutely disgusting and the rest of the world needs to rip them a new one for it! You dont need to do an internal examination to determine if someone has possibly recently given birth! Those poor women must have been terrified.
Its barbaric, and I will not fly with them or through their airport ever again.

I lived and worked in that hellhole and the only reason why they wanted to find the mother would be to sling her in jail.

Don't go there or any other gulf state.

I can't even imagine how terrified and violated those women feel.

A physical search, carried out by officials in accordance with the laws of the country in which it takes place, isn't sexual assault.

dangerous bollocks.

My first thought was Handmaid’s Tale too. Horrific.

I have travelled on ME airlines many times over many years. I always thought it was a reasonable route and often cheaper than other options.
Never again.

Appalling. And anybody who thinks they were looking for the mother to help her is massively deluded.

If you travel through an Islamic state like Qatar, even as a stop over, you are subject to their barbaric rules. What do people want to do about it?

Not setting foot there ever? not contributing to their economy any way? Boycotting the next football world cup...

As for pp about the Australian government being hypocrites: c'mon. They take flack all the time for being arses. The difference being that nobody gets thrown in jail for doing it.

I'm sorry but I think that when you go to a country with different societal rules then you have to accept that their norms differ.

Sexual assault should never under any circumstances be "the norm."

The idea that any person who travels through the Middle East/Australia should just accept that they might get sexually assaulted if their plane is re-reouted through Quatar is vile.

Oh wait, not person, woman. Because it's only ever women these things apply to.

Crack on defending the abuse of women though.

the mother may well have been in need of medical help and that was apparently the driving force of the situation, albeit deemed heavy handed.
If you believe that I have a bridge to sell you. The Quatari government doesn't give a shit about women, they only wanted to find the mother so they could punish her. This is a country where slavery is common, where women are imprisoned for being raped.

I really hope they don't find the mother!

Almost as horrifying as the sexual assaults by the Qatari government is the women on here defending them

This

This thread is insane, who are these awful women defending the Qatari government?! This story is unbelievably disturbing, it must have been so terrifying for them. I read the story an hour ago and honestly cannot get over it, so horrific.

I have had to transit through Doha before too, doesn't mean I was out on a jolly and deserved to be taken off a plane, forcibly stripped naked and have my genitals inspected for fuck sake.

It's appalling and inexcusable. This being pretty well in line for government and law enforcement behaviour in that part of the world makes it worse, not better!

Sky tv could end the advertising from the Qatar airline they carry, which could be done immediately.

Who is 'defending' the Qatari government. Everyone is saying it is grotesque

But it may not be illegal in that country, and when you are there this are bound by their laws. Australian nationals were caught up in in, and it looks as if their government is demarching the Qataris.

Avoiding travelling to, or routes which transit, countries with poor human rights is a way to vote with our feet. Ditto shunning their products and services (including flag carrying airline)

@Ohlordthepain
Sadly in Qatar, they do have the rights to do this and the whole consent issue doesn't exist.

What a shithole Qatar is.

Will cross that one off the list of safe transits.

Different rules in different places. Be careful where you go! I’d never travel to the Middle East.

@nosswith

Sky tv could end the advertising from the Qatar airline they carry, which could be done immediately.

But why would they lose all of that sponsorship money in a time that is increasingly difficult financially to gain such ongoing sponsorship?

Another reason why I would never ever fly with any of the Middle Eastern Airlines.

But why would they lose all of that sponsorship money in a time that is increasingly difficult financially to gain such ongoing sponsorship?

Why would companies cease engaging in the Atlantic slave trade when it was so profitable? Because it was wrong and stopping it was right.

Women matter too.

That's why.

I'm 100% vehemently against this and against Quatar's horrendous abuse of women and use of slave labour, but I've seen a few comments castigating the entire Middle East based on this.

The Middle East is a huge area and laws and cultural attitudes vary widely. (My mum is from a country in the Middle East that's as different from Quatar as chalk from cheese - for example abortion is legal there and it's known as being pro-gay and pro-women's rights.) The Gulf States are very different from much of the Middle East.

Maybe it's a minor point, but don't generalise an entire region based on the actions of certain countries.

Who is 'defending' the Qatari government. Everyone is saying it is grotesque

Quite a few posters have taken the attitude of "when you're in another country you just have to accept their norms" (strongly implying that sexual assault and imprisonment of raped women is just a 'different cultural norm' that women need to accept); have claimed that the Qatari government genuinely want to help the birth mother and are motivated by concern for her well-being (nonsense) and on the other thread have attacked the birth mother while not sparing a single bad word for the oppressive regime that makes desperate women/slaves/rape victims feel they have no options.

This is barbaric. I’m astounded that people, presumably women, have said it is not sexual assault on this thread. It is a gross sexual assault. I doubt any of the women concerned wanted to be examined for no benefit to themselves, and I hope to god they don’t find the mother.

@froggygoneonakillingspree

Who is 'defending' the Qatari government. Everyone is saying it is grotesque

Quite a few posters have taken the attitude of "when you're in another country you just have to accept their norms" (strongly implying that sexual assault and imprisonment of raped women is just a 'different cultural norm' that women need to accept); have claimed that the Qatari government genuinely want to help the birth mother and are motivated by concern for her well-being (nonsense) and on the other thread have attacked the birth mother while not sparing a single bad word for the oppressive regime that makes desperate women/slaves/rape victims feel they have no options.

Yes, there's clear minimisation going on here. As if something being legal means it must also be acceptable. And the person who has lost her mind sufficiently to say it isn't sexual assault is defending the Qatari government against the accusation of sexual assault.

why is a blood test less invasive than a physical exam?

Are you seriously asking that question??