A Mexican woman reported an assault in Qatar. She faces jail, 100 lashes.

MEXICO CITY — Paola Schietekat longs to return to the Center East, the place she beloved working — till a dream job in Qatar was adopted by a nightmarish ordeal that made her flee the nation.

“I couldn’t consider what had occurred to me,” Schietekat instructed Noticias Telemundo, recounting the ordeal that has made worldwide headlines.

Schietekat, who loves soccer, was working in Qatar for the Supreme Committee for Supply and Legacy, an entity created by the nation forward of the 2022 FIFA World Cup, which can happen there in November.

In June, Schietekat, who’s an economist, mentioned she was assaulted in a violent incident by an acquaintance and fellow Latino who additionally labored in Qatar.

“I used to be asleep, and after I hear a noise within the kitchen, I am going to test. … He lunged at me, and we struggled a bit till he began hitting me actually arduous. I keep in mind I ended up with bruises on my ribs, again, shoulder and the complete left aspect of my physique. I used to be immobile for about 10 minutes,” she mentioned.

Earlier than leaving her, she mentioned he yelled, “And don’t even take into consideration telling anybody that I hit you.”

Schietekat went with a consultant of the Mexican Consulate to report the incident to Qatari authorities, however as an alternative, she mentioned, it was changed into an investigation about her, with authorities at one level asking for a virginity check. “It was a really sturdy humiliation,” she mentioned.

“My assailant lied, saying that we had a relationship, and, though I had the forensic proof of the beatings and every little thing, they believed him and utilized the crime of fornication to us in an extramarital relationship, for which we may very well be in jail for as much as seven years,” she mentioned. “However since I’m Muslim, they’ll additionally give me 100 lashes. It’s loopy.”

Schietekat managed to go away Qatar with the assistance of Human Rights Watch and the World Cup physique the place she labored. The person she accused of attacking her has additionally left the nation.

However in Mexico she has no peace, understanding that the trial continues.

“The worst factor could be to be convicted and never have the ability to return to the Center East — that may finish my skilled future as a result of I wish to return and proceed working in these nations. The reality is, I don’t wish to take into consideration that,” she mentioned.

Rothna Begum, senior girls’s rights researcher at Human Rights Watch, instructed Noticias Telemundo that Schietekat’s case brings collectively a “sequence of irregularities as a result of she was interrogated in Arabic, with out enough translators. In addition they put her head to head with the aggressor, and so they believed him in order that they filed costs.”

“They didn’t even do a proper investigation to corroborate the info, and he or she is a international lady residing within the nation that’s organizing the World Cup this yr,” Begum mentioned. “It is rather worrying.”

A Muslim who has lived within the area since she was 19, Schietekat mentioned being a girl there’s a fixed problem, however nothing had ready her for what she skilled final yr, together with her nation’s preliminary response.

Schietekat mentioned that, based on her expertise, the Mexican Consulate didn’t advise her or search authorized recommendation to warn her that her criticism may very well be used in opposition to her. She mentioned she wasn’t supplied translation providers till hours after intense interrogations, and at the moment, they solely put her involved with a translator by phone.

“There isn’t any protocol for the safety of victims of violence with a gender perspective within the Mexican International Service,” she mentioned.

A dream dashed amid conservatism, controversy

Schietekat was 5 when she instructed her mother and father she did not wish to do any extra ballet; she solely wished to play soccer.

At 28, she nonetheless normally performs as an out of doors midfielder.

“The benefit of me is that I may shoot with each legs, in order that they all the time put me on the left aspect as a result of I wasn’t afraid to kick from there,” she mentioned with a smile.

In some ways, the Doha expertise had been extraordinary for Schietekat: “I all the time wished to do behavioral economics through the group of a World Cup. I had ready my entire life for such a second.”

Qatar is among the world’s most conservative nations, the place sexual relations and childbirth exterior of marriage are punishable by jail sentences and different sanctions, together with bodily ones.

Since FIFA introduced in 2010 that the Arab nation would host its greatest sporting occasion, human rights organizations and minority teams have denounced Qatar’s legal guidelines and present sanctions.

In December, Nasser Al Khater, president of the Qatar World Cup organizing committee, acknowledged that LGBTQ+ individuals who go to the nation to attend matches mustn’t really feel insecure or threatened, however he hoped that “they don’t make public shows of affection and respect the native tradition.”

The prison code of that nation says the act of scary or seducing a person to commit acts of “sodomy and immorality” is punishable by three years in jail. As well as, the contents of the sexually numerous neighborhood are censored within the worldwide media.

Male guardianship

Within the case of ladies’s rights, Qatar stands out for restrictions on their freedoms and participation in public life.

“Qatari girls are second-class residents in their very own nation. They need to reside underneath what are often called male guardianship legal guidelines and insurance policies,” Begum, who led the Human Rights Watch report on the legal guidelines, mentioned. “Which means to be able to make plenty of selections about their lives, they want the permission of their guardian earlier than they’ll have interaction in these actions.”

Girls want permission from their male guardian for actions similar to touring overseas, finding out, getting married, working, making use of for a driver’s license and present process medical remedy, together with problems with reproductive well being, amongst different issues.

Extramarital intercourse is assessed as against the law within the penal code with penalties of as much as seven years in jail, and if it entails Muslim individuals, it might embody 100 lashes. Within the case of adultery, it may be punished with stoning.

Moreover, international girls who depend on their husbands or fathers as sponsors for his or her visas are topic to related controls.

In a press release to Noticias Telemundo, Thayssa Plum, a spokesperson for FIFA, mentioned it’s following the matter intently.

“FIFA is conscious of the scenario involving Ms. Schietekat and it’s of utmost significance to FIFA that, as a survivor of abuse, she receives all applicable care and help,” the assertion mentioned. “FIFA took be aware of the help offered in that respect by the Supreme Committee for Supply & Legacy and is involved with its counterparts in Qatar.”

On Friday, as Schietekat’s story was making world headlines, Mexican International Secretary Marcelo Ebrard met with Schietekat and made the providers of the International Ministry’s authorized advisor obtainable to her.

“Our greatest lawyer will care for defending her so all her rights as a Mexican citizen are revered,” Ebrard tweeted.