The recent revelation by 17-year-old Dangal actress Zaira Wasim of 'being molested on an Indian airline sent shock waves across the country. The incident also opened up a can of worms about how mid-air harassment is a real issue – women fliers are often at the receiving end of being touched inappropriately or brushed roughly against, with ulterior motives. While most of such instances are overlooked, there has been a rise in the number of women, who believe in facing such issues head on and throwing light on how even the most luxurious travel can leave them in a tricky spot. We document the responses of frequent fliers in an attempt to understand their issues.
“In all honesty, like how the hostess explains how to protect yourselves in case of an emergency, there needs to be a short session on how to save yourself from creeps on flight because most women don’t know or would rather not come to terms with the fact that they are being molested!” suggests Aakanksha Sadekar, a young entrepreneur.
Enthusing how a distasteful personal experience of being touched inappropriately turned into quite a fiasco, she shares “A 50+ uncle was trying to feel up my inner thigh and I ended up slapping him. It was quite a fiasco on a London- Mumbai flight in July 2017. But, the airline was very helpful, they helped me lodged an FIR against the person on landing. Raise your voice if you feel threatened by any incident. That’s the only way to curb such acts, and alert the right people.”
While yoga teacher Namita Kulkarni hasn’t encountered downright harassment, she does record a rather strange instance of a male passenger pestering her to share her number. “I did get this weird pick-up line once. This weirdo in front of me had written a rather eerie note on his upholstery, suggesting we should start talking. And later, when we were all collecting our bags, he kept insisting I give him my number and touched me inappropriately. I gave him a piece of my mind instead and I posted this on Facebook to spread a message on how your safety is your responsibility. While it is okay to turn a blind eye, if the advances get persistent, it is a sign to speak up. You need to get past the awkwardness and ensure the wrong doer is reprimanded at least verbally.”
