From Brazil to Colombia, Ethiopia to Saudi Arabia, feminine followers say they’re having fun with late-night video games, secure and safe.
Doha, Qatar – When Andrea M set off from New York to comply with Staff USA’s journey on the FIFA World Cup in Qatar, she reassured her family and friends that she wouldn't do something dangerous through the event.
What she had examine Qatar painted an alarming image of the host nation.
“The US media’s portrayal of the Center East has been very totally different from what I've skilled right here,” Andrea, 29, instructed Al Jazeera, including that her associates determined towards travelling to Qatar.
Andrea mentioned she is glad she got here. “Easy issues like taking a stroll across the metropolis late at evening, that’s one thing I can’t do again residence.”
A 10pm (19:00 GMT) kickoff time for lots of the group stage matches and knockout video games imply that followers exit stadiums, use public transport and have fun in fan zones effectively previous midnight. And ladies, in teams or on their very own, are watching soccer at public screenings, singing and dancing with different followers and transferring round with out worrying about their security. In response to the Numbeo Crime Index, Doha routinely ranks because the most secure – or the second-safest – metropolis on the planet.
For Pleasure Nkuna, the expertise has been a stark distinction to her residence nation South Africa, which ranks as among the many most harmful international locations for ladies travellers. “We now have very excessive crime charges in my nation, particularly towards girls,” she mentioned. In response to latest authorities figures, greater than 1,000 girls have been murdered in South Africa in a three-month interval between the beginning of July and the top of September.
Nkuna, 39, mentioned she doesn’t enterprise out alone previous sundown in her nation. “From the minute it will get darkish, girls can’t be out alone or they are going to be at risk,” she mentioned. “Right here, me and my daughter walked round at 3am and no person intimidated us, catcalled us or checked out us in a approach that may make us really feel unsafe.”
It’s an expertise that Tatiana Lopez can relate to. Thirty-three-year-old Brazil fan Lopez, who has travelled from Colombia with two feminine associates, mentioned males in public locations have been very courteous. “Whereas it's unusual to see extra males in public locations (in comparison with girls) than I’m used to seeing in Colombia, they've all been very respectful.”
Lopez mentioned she has been having fun with the event with out worrying about her belongings, which is one thing she’s not used to again residence. “I can truly carry my backpack on my again, and preserve my telephone in my pocket as a result of I do know no person will snatch it from me.”
Girls who've been residing in Qatar mentioned security shouldn't be a brand new phenomenon linked to the World Cup.
Khadija Suleiman, a 32-year-old Ethiopian who has been residing in Qatar for 10 years, was on the Lusail Stadium for a 10pm kickoff lately together with her three kids and two nieces. “I don’t really feel the must be with a person with a purpose to really feel secure,” she mentioned as she walked in the direction of the stadium.
To make sure, safety presence has elevated in Qatar due to the World Cup. However Suleiman mentioned that girls’s and youngsters’s security in public locations has by no means been a priority for her whereas within the nation. “If I have to, I can ship my kids to high school in a taxi and never fear about their security.”
That confidence is shared by girls from different elements of the Gulf area, lots of whom have been in a position to take part within the Center East’s biggest-ever sporting extravaganza with out concern.
Dalia Abushullaih has travelled to Qatar from Saudi Arabia and mentioned she is overjoyed to see girls celebrating in public areas. “Qatar has made positive that girls really feel secure and cozy in being an energetic a part of the event and luxuriate in freely,” the 29-year-old mentioned. “The world is lastly witnessing our stunning Arab tradition, and it's stunning to see individuals taking all of it in and going again residence with part of it.”
Aside from the stadiums, girls and youngsters have thronged vacationer areas equivalent to Doha’s Souq Waqif and fan zones unfold everywhere in the metropolis. Some arrive through the day as festivities are getting began, whereas others push via the crowds with strollers to affix the post-match celebrations.
The choice by organisers to ban alcohol gross sales in or close to the match venues has additionally added to the arrogance of many ladies that attending video games received’t compromise their security.
Camilla Ferrierra, a event volunteer from Brazil, mentioned understanding that she received’t be surrounded by drunk followers on the stadiums made her really feel safer.
“I may by no means think about going to a soccer match alone [in Brazil],” she instructed Al Jazeera. “I can’t think about being exterior late at evening, utilizing my telephone in public with out concern and simply having the ability to take pleasure in a stroll or a soccer match. Right here, I really feel 100% secure and that’s an incredible factor for us girls: to have the ability to benefit from the festivities and soccer in a secure and safe method.”
Hanoof Abdullah, a Kuwaiti soccer fan, sat by herself in the midst of 1000's of Brazilian followers on the Lusail Stadium. She mentioned Arab households would have discovered it tough to remain out at evening in the event that they knew alcohol was being served.
“Qatar has proven the world that soccer could be loved with out alcohol, and ladies can take pleasure in it with out fearing for his or her security,” she mentioned. “The bar has been set very excessive, and now the world must work very onerous to match it.”
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