A group of women are suing Qatar, saying they were subjected to invasive internal exams after staff found a baby in an airport bathroom

• A group of women say they were strip searched when a baby was found in an airport.
• They're now suing for an apology, rule changes, and compensation, their lawyer said.

A group of women are suing Qatar's officials and flagship airline, saying they were strip searched and subjected to invasive internal exams after Doha airport staff found a baby in a bathroom.

The women, many of whom remained anonymous, said they were strip searched at Hamad International airport last October, Agence France-Presse reported.

Women from 10 different flights were searched, AFP reported.

Some of the women said they were removed from their flight, and told they had to take off their underwear so they could be searched.

Officials said last year they were looking to identify who had recently given birth.

Damian Sturzaker, a lawyer representing seven of the women, said they were taking legal action in order to "send a message to Qatari authorities that you can't treat women … in this manner," AFP reported.

He said the women want an apology from Qatar, compensation, and a rule change so the same thing doesn't happen again, according to AFP.

He said they have suffered distress and trauma as a result of the searches.

The lawsuit is set to be filed in the coming weeks Australia against Qatar's government, the airport, Qatar Airways, and the Qatar Civil Aviation Authority, Sturzaker said, as AFP reported.

It is not clear how many women were searched and how many are involved in the lawsuit, though AFP reported that the group searched included 13 Australian women.

Australia slammed the searches last year, and Qatar's prime minister apologized for the searches last October, calling them "unacceptable."

"I assure you that we will hold those responsible for these acts to account. What took place does not represent Qatar's laws or values," Khalid bin Khalifa bin Abdulaziz Al Thani then tweeted. "We will undertake all measures to prevent a recurrence."

Sturzaker said the women wanted to highlight what happened to them before the 2022 soccer World Cup, which Qatar is hosting.

He said, according to AFP: "They should be aware that - whilst there is a guise of a highly developed, highly modernized airport and national carrier - these events have happened and there's nothing preventing them from happening again."