Woman On Plane Stops Man From Sexually Harassing Teen
By Dave Basner
December 1, 2019
Air travel is challenging for most people with the delays, the lack of legroom, and the germs everywhere, but it's especially harrowing for young women. Writer Joanna Chiu witnessed this firsthand on a recent flight when she was seated in front of a teen girl who was in a separate part of the plane from the rest of her family. A man in is 30s sat next to teen and started talking to her. Before long, his innocent conversation turned sexual, and Chiu stepped in to put an end to it. She tweeted about everything that went down to illustrate what life is like being a female traveling alone. First, she set the scene:
Thread about airplane creeps: I’m on a plane from a late-evening stopover from and was very tired and had a row to myself to sleep but couldn’t avoid noticing what was going on in the row behind me.
— Joanna Chiu 趙淇欣 (@joannachiu) March 25, 2019
A man appearing in his late thirties was obviously delighted to be seated next to a teenager separated from the rest of her family. He started off by asking about her career plans and laughed when she said she wanted to be CEO and kept giving her ridiculous advice.
— Joanna Chiu 趙淇欣 (@joannachiu) March 25, 2019
She was friendly and he seemed to take that as a welcome cue to get very familiar and started teasing her and kept saying that he wanted to take her out to eat, which she was ignoring. At this point I had to stay awake in case anything went further than that.
— Joanna Chiu 趙淇欣 (@joannachiu) March 25, 2019
Then she explained how she and others reacted when things did go down a dark path:
It did, and as soon as he asked for a “dirty” photo while leaning close to her I turned around and rage-whispered exactly what I thought of that and he didn’t say anything back and went off to use the washroom.
— Joanna Chiu 趙淇欣 (@joannachiu) March 25, 2019
Another woman seated behind him was listening and monitoring too and while the man was gone she let the teen know that she had the right to change seats and that she was just behind her if she needed any help. I went to get a flight attendant and informed her of what was going on
— Joanna Chiu 趙淇欣 (@joannachiu) March 25, 2019
They checked other witness accounts and the head of the flight service (a woman) asked the man to move. He resisted then started swearing at me and asked to talk to the boss and the head flight attendant said “I’m the boss, this is really serious and we could land the plane.”
— Joanna Chiu 趙淇欣 (@joannachiu) March 25, 2019
He moved. The attendants checked in with the young woman and wrote up a report. They handled the situation well as far as I could tell, and it’s good to know other adult women passengers on the plane were paying attention and taking action while trying not to embarrass the teen.
— Joanna Chiu 趙淇欣 (@joannachiu) March 25, 2019
Chiu was pleased to see women come together to help the teen, but was disheartened that the men on the plane either ignored it or were oblivious to it:
But none of the male passengers seemed to show they noticed what was going on. Maybe fellow women are more likely to pick up on warning signs early on in the conversation because we used to be teenage girls too?
— Joanna Chiu 趙淇欣 (@joannachiu) March 25, 2019
She went on to say that this is a widespread experience for young women, and she herself experienced something similar:
The first time I traveled without my parents the man next to me spoke with me most of the flight, which made me feel adult and important, and he said things like I must be flirting because I was touching the zipper on my jacket. To his credit he stopped and later looked ashamed.
— Joanna Chiu 趙淇欣 (@joannachiu) March 25, 2019
The second time I traveled alone an older man struck up a convo while we waited for boarding and he asked about many details of my travels then kissed me without my consent. I was too shocked to say anything.
— Joanna Chiu 趙淇欣 (@joannachiu) March 25, 2019
In conclusion, Joanna explained ways everyone can pitch in to prevent incidents like this:
All adults need to be on guard and know there are things we can do to intervene even when a crime hadn’t technically been committed yet. Men need to figure out how to “spot creeps” in their vicinity as well and men can help too to prevent harassment or assault.
— Joanna Chiu 趙淇欣 (@joannachiu) March 25, 2019
It’s so disturbing there are predatory people out there who act like they have no idea what they’re doing is wrong. It’s unclear if the man is going to be monitored by flight crew the next time he flies.
— Joanna Chiu 趙淇欣 (@joannachiu) March 25, 2019
Chiu noted that security was waiting for the man when he got off the plane and that he "looked like he was sweating bullets." She also revealed that she overheard his name and the company he works for and will be writing a letter to them. Meanwhile, Joanna spoke about the young woman he targeted, stating how she is sure that the teen will "be CEO some day or [in] some other position of influence. She was in the middle of studying when he started harassing her."
Meanwhile, the flight crew gave Chiu and the other woman who helped in the situation a sweet note:
I don’t want to say name of airline because journalists have to be careful not to make endorsements but just want to say that this Canadian airline crew handled the situation so well. Workplaces, schools, sports teams etc. can take note. They even gave me and other woman a card. pic.twitter.com/6irPimuRZb
— Joanna Chiu 趙淇欣 (@joannachiu) March 25, 2019