A British woman revealed today that she was sexually assaulted by a male passenger who sat next to her on a 10-hour Air Europa flight to Madrid before being berated by cabin crew for crying.
Emma, who is in her 30s, was traveling with her husband on a flight from Santa Cruz, Bolivia, to Madrid, Spain, on Saturday when a man sitting next to her began touching her inappropriately with his arm and punching her. breasts pressed.
She immediately told a male cabin crew member that the passenger had pushed into her and would not stop despite her and her husband’s insistence – only for the Air Europa employee to ‘shrug and walk away’.
Emma, not her real name, said the man, who she believes is in his 60s, kept touching her and ignoring her demands for space for a horrifying two hours in an incident that left her feeling “rebelled”. and humiliation’.
Emma, who was previously a victim of sexual abuse, told MailOnline how the cabin crew did nothing to help her or stop the abuse, instead yelling at her for “crying like a child.”
Emma says she was the one forced to move seats and the crew even threatened to ground the plane in Colombia and remove her and her husband from the plane after telling them she was having a panic attack.
Emma, who is in her 30s, was traveling on an Air Europa flight (file image) from Santa Cruz, Bolivia, to Madrid, Spain, with her husband on Saturday when a man sitting next to her started touching her inappropriately with his arm and pressed against her breasts
“I was disgusted and completely rebelled,” says Emma. “I was so angry that I had to repeat myself so many times that I didn’t want this man to touch me.
“When I came home after this experience, I actually felt broken. It takes so much to try and live an almost normal life after being sexually assaulted and I feel like this has put me right back to square one. It caused all the previous trauma,” says Emma.
She revealed that she and her husband were planning to try for a baby in the coming weeks, but this experience has put those plans on hold as she feels “numb.”
“I felt numb and disconnected from my own body and I told my husband I don’t think I can try for a baby right now. I need some time, because it is very debilitating to go through such a trauma.’
Speaking about her experience on the plane, Emma said so within minutes of getting into her seat after a two-week romantic vacation in Bolivia, the male passenger sitting next to her started touching her and pressing his arm against her breasts.
“He pressed against me and at first I thought I’d just move my body and try not to use my whole chair, but it was really uncomfortable,” Emma explains.
“I repeatedly asked him not to touch me and to give me space, but he did nothing,” she says.
Emma summoned the cabin crew and told them he was pressing against her, but they were of no help, telling the Briton and the passenger to ‘work it out between themselves’.
‘The man kept pressing against me and at some points I felt his arm on my ribs close to my breasts,’ says Emma. “It triggered me so much because I have previous experiences of sexual assault.”
Emma, who is in her 30s, was traveling on a flight from Santa Cruz, Bolivia, to Madrid, Spain. File photo of Santa Cruz
Emma claims that when she called cabin crew, an “aggressive” female cabin crew member waved her finger at the holidaymaker and told her, “If you don’t stop, you’re in big trouble.”
“There were four cabin crew members in the aisle, two of them yelling at me. Then they abandoned me and I cried,” says Emma.
“That man was still pressed against me and I was getting more and more agitated and by then it was quite traumatic that so many people didn’t understand that I didn’t want to be touched by this stranger.
“I kept telling him to please stop touching me and he just ignored me.”
The cabin crew had initially said Emma could move forward, but she said she told the man who was inappropriately touching her to move.
But after the man pressed against Emma repeatedly, she walked her to the front of the plane looking for an empty seat.
“I cried in my husband’s arms. A male member of the cabin crew started yelling at us – especially at me – and said I was acting like a child,” says Emma.
“He picked up the phone and said I’d have the captain land the plane in Colombia and drop you off if you don’t pull over. I was belittled and yelled at in front of everyone by the cabin crew. They couldn’t understand why I had this traumatic reaction.’
After this conversation, Emma says she decided to sit in the front of the plane without her husband. “I couldn’t stop crying,” she says.
After an hour or two, Emma had a panic attack and felt like she couldn’t breathe. She went to the back of her plane where her husband calmed her down and the cabin crew gave her water.
Emma says she spoke to a male cabin crew member and explained her situation and how the man had pressed his arm against her breasts and ribs.
“He said to me, ‘Yeah, but he touched you with his arm, not his hands. Do you really think that was assault?'” Emma says.
“He told the female flight attendant I wanted to raise it as a sexual assault case and she sniffed and rolled her eyes.”
Emma says that the cabin crew eventually removed the man from his seat after five hours.
Emma considered filing a police report when she landed in Madrid, but cabin crew told her it would take a while and they would miss their connecting flight to the UK.
Emma considered filing a police report when she landed in Madrid, but cabin crew told her it would take a while and they would miss their connecting flight to the UK. File photo of Madrid
She says she didn’t report it to the UK police because she didn’t think she would be believed after the cabin crew didn’t believe her.
Speaking about why she didn’t switch seats with her husband, she said, “Whenever I go through moments like this, unless I feel like I’m in danger, I’d rather stand my ground and say no because it hurts my mind as my husband should have intervened.’
She said the experience left her feeling “absolutely disgusted and revolted.”
“I was also angry that I had to repeat myself so many times that I didn’t want to be touched — and the guy just refused to listen and the cabin crew sided with him instead,” says Emma.
‘It was a nightmare. The cabin crew justified his behavior and they laughed at me.’
“I was triggered by my previous experience of sexual abuse. It made me feel like my body isn’t mine and that all these people had a say in how I was supposed to be touched.”
Speaking about why she’s decided to come forward with her experience, Emma says, “I don’t care if I get my money back. I just want to share what happened because this is a small fight within a very big fight.
“Women live in a society where we sometimes lose our right to ownership of our bodies and experience sexual harassment or abuse on a daily basis.”
Air Europa has been contacted by MailOnline for comment.
