Sexual assault on airlines

[Skanky Vamp]

Two passengers are suing United Airlines for failure to act on their claims of sexual assault. The alleged victims claim they reported their assailant several times to multiple flight attendants only for the complaints to be ignored. The assailant was only moved and addressed when they took off their and the victims mask.

I don't know why reporting that you are being sexually harassed should be ignored. The flight attendants disregarded a passenger's complaint and walked away, and only when things got out of hand and genitals were grabbed did they intervene. And the airlines reponse? Give the two victims $150 voucher to make up for it.

If the two victims were women and not men there would be massive outrage, but because they are men, and they were sexually assaulted by a woman, it's pretty much ignored.

 

[WillowFromBuffy]

You're not really providing a lot of information here.

Unruly passengers are extremely difficult to deal with once the plane is in the air. A plane has no on-board security staff and there is nowhere to confine an unruly passenger.

 

[Ghost Boy]

Link to an article about it on CNN:

NFL player sues United Airlines over alleged sexual assault on flight

An NFL player claims in a lawsuit filed against United Airlines that flight staff ignored numerous complaints as he and another man were sexually harassed and assaulted by a female passenger on a February red-eye flight.

edition.cnn.com

A female passenger was grabbing the genitals of two male passengers. The male passengers complained to the flight attendants but the flight attendants at first ignored the complaints.

I agree with Spanky, I think that if the genders were reversed, there would be a huge public and media outrage over this.

 

[Skanky Vamp]

A plane has no on-board security staff and there is nowhere to confine an unruly passenger.

Sure they do. The flight attendants have handcuffs and they have been trained how to use them and move the passenger to another section of the plane. There are also numerous reports of planes landing mid-route to usher an unruly and disturbing passenger off of the plane.

There is no excuse for this behavior not to be addressed, especially when airlines are hemorrhaging money because most of the flights are well below capacity. And United has previously come out and said they have "zero tolerance" for sexual harassment on their flights.

 

[Blaze]

I agree that this is apalling. But I would not be so sure that things would be any different if the roles were reversed. It is a known fact that some women have been previously assaulted in broad daylight when others were present and nothing was done either.

We need to start considering all sexual assaults as horrible and very serious. And I do believe we can advocate for better recognition of abuse on males. But we don't need to say women victims have it so much easier because that is not always the case at all and many of them are also ignored.

 

[WillowFromBuffy]

Even if some airlines have handcuffs, I can understand why flight attendants are hesitant to manhandle someone whom an NFL player feels threatened by. Remember what a fight that doctor in Chicago put up against actual airport police. And considering that recent history and its fallout, I am sure the UA crew are extra reluctant to employ force.

 

[Blaze]

@Spanky

My point was that the flight attendants may not have paid any more attention even if the roles were reversed. I have also seen stories where the roles were reversed and the outcome was the same.

 

[Ethan Reigns]

One way or another, there was going to be a lawsuit, either from the victims or the alleged perpetrator. Once you file a suit, you cannot add names to the list of defendants, so the flight attendants would be sued individually as well. I can understand why flight attendants would not take action if they did not witness the events themselves because the only reason that could defend them from them being sued is filing a criminal charge and being a witness for the prosecution. I am not sure the airline supports flight attendants under these conditions - they might just assume it is bad publicity and fire them.

It is the same reason there will never be a solution to bullying in schools - if a teacher takes action to separate students, he will be charged, fired and sued and that is if he survives the process of separating students. Their best move would be to look the other way and claim they didn't see anything.