On 11-15-04, this article was sent out via the Jet Smart Newsletter and posted on Flyana.com. Two security web sites, one a manufacturer of machines and the other for TSA workers, asked permission to post it and readers wrote about organizing a petition. On 11-23, Joe Sharkey of The New York Times picked up this issue with his piece, "Many women say airport pat-downs are a humiliation." Then four weeks later, on 12-23, the government revised its procedures for breast searches at airport security and the nation's 45,000 screeners were told to only pat down the perimeter of the chest and avoid touching female breasts.

Dear Diana,

"What should I do if an airport security person insists on feeling my breasts? Is this a joke? Or do passengers actually have to go along with this intrusion? Thanks for your help."

Allison

DIANA'S REPLY

Women's breasts are sensitive and women are sensitive about their breasts. And we certainly don't want our breasts examined at airports, and especially not out in the open giving male screeners and male passengers an opportunity to enjoy the show.

Last month, a female screener told a young mother: "I'm going to feel your breasts now." The mother begged, bawled, balked, and was finally denied boarding.

The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) said its screener did nothing wrong and that touching breasts became a security priority in September 2004 after two Russian jetliners exploded, possibly from bombs smuggled in clothing of two women of Cechnya origin.

After she was denied boarding, Ava Kingsford stuck by her personal principles and decided to drive a rental car from Denver Airport to her home in San Diego. It took 16 hours, including too many stops, with her little baby.

In addition, Ava's luggage (with diapers, clothes, etc.) had not been retrieved by the airline (against FAA regulations, by the way), though she had waited at the airport several hours for it.

In a phone interview, Ava told me that two female airport screeners had taken her to a back room to touch her breasts. To avoid being touched, Ava pulled down her tank top and bra-less said: "See, I'm not hiding anything."

But the screener replied, "That's it. You just flashed us and you're not boarding your plane."

At the Orlando Airport, a technician on a prototype body-scan machine can examine breast and genital size and shape of naked passengers; even implants and other prostheses, and colostomy devices. These types of body scans also irradiate us.

In the U.S., passengers foot the bill for airport security with a $2.50 surcharge per flight. This is in addition to bailing out the airlines with our taxes. Here are five things you can do to make a difference:

1) If you believe you have been treated in a discriminatory manner, don't bother reporting it to airport authorities -- report it to the media. The TSA's "resolution line" (866-289-9673) is just a recording that sends you to a website.

2) Make sure your bags are always in your sight. If a screener wants to move you to a side area or a private room and separate you from your hand luggage, politely insist that your handcarries must go where you go. They will comply.

3) Be polite. No matter how a screener behaves, control yourself and do not raise your voice as this could send you straight to jail.

4) If you feel tense at security, say to the screener: I appreciate that you are checking all the passengers thoroughly because I am also very concerned with safety.

5) For updates on this ongoing campaign for dignity at airport security, see http://www.Flyana.com/newsletter.html.