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November 29, 2010 - The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) has received over 900 complaints in the month of November from travelers who have been subjected to the Transportation Security Authority’s (TSA) new “enhanced” screening procedures. The procedures include sending travelers through backscatter X-ray machines that produce naked outlines of travelers’ bodies and subjecting them to thorough pat-downs that include TSA agents touching their breasts and genitals on the outside of their clothing. Most of the complaints, which were submitted through an online form on the ACLU’s website, came from travelers who reported feeling humiliated and traumatized by the procedures. Some of the excerpts include: “The TSA agent used her hands to feel under and between my breasts. She then rammed her hand up into my crotch until it jammed into my pubic bone.” “I cried throughout the groping and have had intrusive thoughts since. It was humiliating.” |
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“The
procedure was violating, degrading, invasive and humiliating.”
“It was so rough that I felt the effects of it throughout the
day.” “I do not feel safer. I feel violated.” The following can
be attributed to Laura W. Murphy, Director of the ACLU
Washington Legislative Office:
“The
government must keep us safe, but it must do so in a way that is
sensible, effective and constitutional. The new 'enhanced'
security methods are far more intrusive than other methods but
have not been shown to be any more effective. Nobody should be
forced to choose between 'naked scans' and intrusive groping by
strangers to keep our airplanes safe.” Several radiation safety authorities including the National Council on Radiation Protection and Measurements, The Health Physics Society, and the American College of Radiology, have stated that they are "not aware of any evidence" that full-body scans are unsafe. However, other radiation authorities, including the International Atomic Energy Agency and Nuclear Energy Agency recommend against using ionizing radiation on certain populations like pregnant women and children, and opponents of the devices say that no long-term studies have been done on the health effects of either backscatter x-ray or millimeter wave scanners. |
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