Yet another TSexualAssault

[Richard D]

Menstruating woman subjected to TSA grope because panty-liner obscured her vulva on pornoscanner
Cory Doctorow at 11:49 PM Wednesday, Nov 24, 2010
.
A self-described "rule follower" went through an airport pornoscanner wearing a panty-liner (she was menstruating). Because the hygienic item obscured the screener's view of her vulva, she was made to endure a humiliating fondling, "so invasive that I was left crying and dealing with memories that I thought had been dealt with years ago of prior sexual assaults."

These new scans are so horrible that if you are wearing something unusual (like a piece of cloth on your panties) then you will be subjected to a search where a woman repeatedly has to check your "groin" while another woman watches on (two in my case - they were training in a new girl - awesome). So please, please, tell the ladies not to wear their liners at the airport (I didn't even have an insert in). I'm a strong, confident woman; I'm an Army vet (which is why those camo liners crack me up), I work full-time and go to graduate school full-time, I have a wonderful husband, and I don't take any nonsense from anyone. I don't dramatize, and I don't exaggerate. I'm trying to give you a sense of who I am so you won't think that this is a plea for attention, or a jumping on the bandwagon about the recent TSA proposed boycott. I just don't want another woman to have to go through the "patting down" because she didn't know that her glad-rag would be a matter of national security."

There are plenty of TSA apologists who say that objections to the TSA's invasive "pat-downs" are just whining from people don't want to go through the backscatter radiation machines -- we bring it on ourselves. But as we've seen, anything out of the ordinary -- wearing a fabric pad during menstruation, artificial limbs, medical prostheses, etc -- can send you off for a date with Doctor Jellyfinger, Junior G-Man extraordinaire.

By declaring war on the unexpected, the TSA has set in motion a policy that makes the lives of cancer sufferers, disabled people, people who've had major surgery, and many others who're already having a hard time even harder.

http://www.boingboing.net/2010/11/24/menstruating-woman-s.html

[ixion]

1. When this new grope fetish first appeared, someone mentioned panty liners

didn't take long for it to come true.

[Nite Owl]

2. Wow, they will stop at nothing

Bin Laden has surely won.

Oh and this telling people to stop whining, where did that start? It's the new excuse for stand in line and go Baaaa.

[drm604]

3. Those last two paragraphs say it all.

People cannot always opt out of pat downs and gropings.

We are singling out and publicly humiliating the weakest and most vulnerable members of our society.

[KharmaTrain]

4. And Adam Savage Walks Through With Two 12-inch Blades...

...in his laptop case and was missed by the TSA. The absurdity of this is trumped by the stupidity of this attempt to make us "safe" through huniliation and the destruction of our 4th ammendment rights.

[Richard D]

5. I had a swiss army knife

that I thought I'd lost lodged into a corner of my backpack. I made it through 4 pretty through checkpoints before I found it when I got home.

[Celtic Raven]

6. Anyone claiming the images are not that detailed

are full of shit. Panty-liners are so thin. Can you imagine what a woman wearing a maxi pad would be put through in one of these gropings? I don't even want to think about what people needing Depends type underwear are faced with as they try to fly.

:thumbsdown:

[Gormy Cuss]

8. As I pointed out on another thread, some pads are thicker than shoe soles

and thus would be regarded as big enough to conceal shoe bomber supplies.

Depends must trigger a hand in the pants for a feel around.

[Celtic Raven]

9. This will boost the sale of products

that diminish the number of periods women have so they aren't obstructing the view of their vulvas from the boys in blue.

[uncle ray]

10. what supplies?

particularly, what supplies that a person could not also insert into their vagina or rectum?

[Gormy Cuss]

13. The "supplies" carried by the shoe bomber wannabe.

which is why we are all required to remove our shoes for X-ray screening at the airport. So if the risk is high enough to require that shoe screening then by the same security theater thinking thick sanitary pads should be removed for X-raying too.

[grahamhgreen]

7. "The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreaso

The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized."

[Angry Dragon]

12. According to bush that is just a piece of paper

but it sure is important to the rest of the fundies

[Buns_of_Fire]

18. From what I've seen, their love of the Constitution stops at the 2nd Amendment. nt

[Angry Dragon]

11. Step right up and sign this piece of paper

so we can take your rights away.
I wonder how soon that is going to happen.
I wonder if Marshall Law is on the horizon??

[musette_sf]

14. I hate the scanners and I hate the grope

but speaking from experience, I went through one of the millimeter wave scanners a few weeks ago wearing, um, shall we say, a feminine hygeine product. It did not trigger a patdown. So is it just the backscatter scanners that detect these products as requiring physical patdown to resolve (putative) doubt?

[LisaL]

15. Supposedly backscatters produce a more clear image so

quite possible.

[sarcasmo]

16. This is beyond scary.

[nadinbrzezinski]

17. They gotta go

Period!

[Richard D]

19. ??

Did you do that on purpose?

[nadinbrzezinski]

20. The machines

[musette_sf]

21. Okay, so I read the story more carefully (both here and on Boing Boing)

and I think it makes sense now.

I couldn't stop wondering, HOW does this not happen hundreds of times a day, given the odds of a female traveler wearing some kind of sanitary product. So I went back to the story to re-read.

The "camo liners" reference brought to mind an Intertubes story or two of late about "liners". Then I thought about those hippie dippie Glad Rags that all those patchouli-scented twirlers on the DMB tour are into. ;-p

Research unveiled the source of the story... a blog post on the Glad Rags website.

you are wearing something unusual (like a piece of cloth on your panties) then you will be subjected to a search where a woman repeatedly has to check your "groin" while another woman watches on (two in my case - they were training in a new girl - awesome). So please, please, tell the ladies not to wear their liners at the airport (I didn't even have an insert in). I'm a strong, confident woman; I'm an Army vet (which is why those camo liners crack me up)

So I STILL do not agree with the scanning and groping. But I think I could forego my idealism on recycling for the duration of my flight. Others may disagree.