A woman has said she was “humiliated” by security staff at Sydney airport after they forced her to remove her jacket.
Louise Milligan, a journalist for ABC, shared details of her experience on social media, calling it “creepy”, “uncomfortable” and “embarassing”.
Ms Milligan claims she was wearing a flimsy camisole top underneath her fitted blazer, which she was told to take off.
“I’m @SydneyAirport and at new full-body security screening was made to take off fitted business jacket (only had little camisole underneath),” she tweeted.
“Have never had this happen anywhere. Man in front, in big bulky jumper, not made to change. It was embarrassing, uncomfortable, creepy.”
She added that the experience was “gross”; in response to someone asking her on what grounds she was told to remove her jacket, Ms Milligan said: “That the new full-body scanner wouldn’t be able to scan properly. But it could scan the old guy in the bulky, loose jumper in front of me? Complete nonsense. I said that and they just ignored me.”
When she told Qantas staff about the experience, Ms Milligan claims they were sympathetic.
“They were incensed and said they have had multiple women complaining of similar security heavy-handedness this week,” she alleged.
“They said a woman was crying after being forced to remove her T-shirt. They’ve complained to airport managers.”
Sydney Airport later tweeted an apology to Milligan, writing: “Louise, we are really sorry this happened and are urgently following it up with our security contractor. Thank you for bringing it to our attention.”
She thanked them for the apology but added that she felt “humiliated” by the experience, which she deemed “rude” and “sexist”.
Other woman shared similar experiences under Ms Milligan’s thread, with one user writing: “I had this happen at Melbourne airport recently. I was wearing a T-shirt with a white unbuttoned shirt over the top and was asked to take my shirt off. I was alone and it felt so weird.”
The Independent has contacted Sydney Airport for further comment.
