Stricter TSA Measures Offer Choice Between Strip Search and Sexual Assault

Having worked with security measures myself I know that doing anything "routinely" is a good way to fall into the kind of lackadaisical situation that causes security breeches. This is only one reason why I make my biggest frowny face at the extremely stringent TSA Fourth Amendment violations being tossed around at airports now. When security becomes standard procedure it becomes easy to circumvent the measures. In other words, if someone wants to avoid your screening, they are going to unless you randomize the encounter.

The TSA's new full body scanners are a step down from involuntary strip search of travelers. The images show x-ray-like shots of people without clothing to a TSA agent in a booth, which is rumored to be a measure meant to reveal if that potential passenger is potentially muling weapons or explosives. But the things that it might also reveal, to some, are not worth the so-called security exchange.

The images show people, of all ages, without their clothes. Whether you are nonchalant about nudity or uncomfortably shy, these images are taken with forced consent and shown to another person. Women who don't want to divulge private medical information, such as having pacemakers, prostheses, or certain types of birth control, shouldn't have to have it revealed forcibly. For trans, intersex, and genderqueer people, a full body scan could reveal information that has been shown to put their lives in danger from the hateful attitudes of anti-QUILTBAG* rights individuals who could be working as TSA agents. Women in headscarves and wheelchair or insulin-pump users will be singled out and whisked away for the "choice" of being sexually assaulted having a physical inspection.

The new standards for pat-down inspections have become more invasive, and have amounted to little less than sexual assault, as TSA agents are now allowed to use the front of their hands and are permitted to probe into genital regions, pull out clothing, and force you to remove clothing, such as tight skirts. The same risks that are listed above can put a person at risk for being groped. Anyone who has to fly must now place their trust in the hands of a complete stranger to not abuse that power in a situation where they are already feeling horribly vulnerable and violated. Opting out isn't exactly the option we were lead to believe it was. These scans and pats are not something you can just walk away from.

It has been suggested that people in the United States participate in a "No Fly Day," which sounds great in concept, but it is fairly privileged to assume that giving up flying is a reasonable answer for everyone. These scanners and new pat-down guidelines are dangerous and threatening to the people they are supposedly meant to protect. It starts from the bottom -- letting the TSA know that the guidelines need to change. The choice between a strip search and sexual assault is no choice at all.

*Queer/Questioning, Undecided, Intersex, Lesbian, Trans, Bi, Asexual, Gay

Photo Credit: Jurvetson