Female football fans risk jail or flogging at World Cup if they are raped in Qatar
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FEMALE England fans risk jail or flogging at the World Cup in Qatar if they report being the victim of a sex attack, lawyers have warned.
Figures show soccer stadiums become sex assault hotspots when booze-fuelled crowds flock to big games during tournaments.
But thousands of women fans expected to travel to the Muslim Gulf State in November have been warned they face prosecution if they report offences.
Qatar’s strict Islamic code outlaws all sexual contact between unmarried couples - making it an offence even if the woman has not consented.
Around 100 prosecutions a year have been recorded under the strict “zina” laws banning sex and pregnancy outside of marriage.
And even rape victims have been prosecuted after suspects claimed sex was consensual - and handed sentences ranging from seven years jail to flogging with a whip or stick.
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In 2016 a 22-year-old Dutch woman, named only as Laura, was convicted of extra-marital sex, fined £580 and given a one-year suspended sentence after reporting a brutal rape.
She was drugged in a nightclub in Qatar before being sexually assaulted - but was arrested immediately when she repotred the incident.
Qatar is more strict than neighbouring Arab state Dubai, where A British tourist who reported being raped by two men was charged with having extra-marital sex in 2016.
The woman, who is in her 20s, reported the "brutal and violent" attack by two Birmingham men who filmed it.
But police immediately arrested her, confiscated her passport and charged him with having sex outside marriage - forcing her to crowdfund legal fees before the case was dropped.
Radha Stirling, founder and director of the Detained in Dubai legal aid group - which has launched an app to help World Cup fans in trouble said: "The UAE has a long history of penalising rape victims.
"It is still not safe for victims to report these crimes to the police without the risk of suffering a double punishment.
“But Qatar has not acclimated itself as a tourist destination and is even less tolerant than Dubai.
“They will be flooded with more tourists in a matter of weeks than they usually get in half a year during the World Cup. There is inevitably going to be some culture shock.
"It is still not safe for victims to report these crimes to the police without the risk of suffering a double punishment.
“Victims go to them expecting justice and end up being prosecuted. Police not only invalidate their victimisation - they punish them for it."
May Romanos, a Middle East and North Africa expert from Amnesty
International added: “You go to the police, and instead of being the victim, you become the accused.”
Before it landed the World Cup 12 years ago, Qatar - a tiny Gulf state the size of Yorkshire - published figures which showed around 100 prosecutions for sex outside marriage.
The statistics are no longer public as the oil-rich emirate has scrubbed up it image for the soccer showpiece.
But legal experts warned that yesterday that survivors of sexual violence could even be unable to access basic health services, such as emergency contraception, without a marriage certificate.
Analysis has revealed that sexual offence figure rocket whenever sporting events are staged.
In the London borough of Brent, which includes Wembley, 72 sex attacks were reported in July last year when the Euro 2020 semis and finals were played - the highest figure in five years.
In the Spanish city of Seville, which hosted four games in June 2021, 39 cases of sexual violence were reported - 70 per cent higher than any other June on record.
Qatar’s supreme committee, which oversees the whole World Cup denied local laws on sex outside marriage would be an issue.
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A spokesman said: “Qatar protects and promotes the rights of women, and this extends to all women visiting for the World Cup”.
A FIFA spokesman added: “Any fan who reports a sexual assault will have access to Qatar’s high-quality healthcare system irrespective of marital status”.