Traveler claims sexual harassment in US airport

New York, Nov 17: A traveller in the US has revealed how she was left shocked and humiliated by airport officials, who patted her down in a way that made her feel sexually assaulted.

US blogger Erin Chase, author of the '5 dollar Dinner Mum', gave a very detailed description of how she was touched on the genitals without warning during the new 'enhanced pat-down' procedure.

Chase says she was "assaulted" during the search, which involves the sliding of the hand over the genitals, at Dayton International Airport, US.

"I stood there, an American citizen, a mother travelling with a baby with special needs formula, sexually assaulted by a government official," she said.

"I began shaking and felt completely violated, abused and assaulted by the TSA agent. I shook for several hours, and woke up the next day shaking.

"She felt along my waistline, moved behind me, then proceeded to feel both of my buttocks. She reached from behind in the middle of my buttocks towards my vagina area.

"She did not tell me that she was going to touch my buttocks, or reach forward to my vagina area. She then moved in front of me and touched the top and underneath portions of both of my breasts...

"She then felt my inner thighs and my vagina area, touching both of my labia. She did not tell me that she was going to touch my vagina area or my labia," she added.

Her story comes after John Tyner, a US software engineer, became an Internet sensation after posting footage of his refusal to undergo a full-body scan or "enhanced search".

ANI