DCW Suggests DGCA To Limit Alcoholic Beverages To Prevent Harassment On Flights

The recent incidents of flight sexual harassment taking place against women have not gone unnoticed by the Delhi Commission Of Women (DCW). 

A letter was written by DCW to the Directorate General Of Civil Aviation (DGCA) to amend the existing guidelines in flights to protect women against the sexual harassment that has been taking place of late. Recent flight news headlines do not discuss new flight models or flight success stories but instances of men urinating on women or their seats. 

Swati Maliwal of the DCW, therefore, directed a letter to the DGCA making a note of the unruly behaviour in flights and airports against female passengers.

Flight Sexual Harassment Letter By The DCW To DGCA

Maliwal recommended in her letter that inebriated individuals should be detected by some mechanism during an attempt to enter flights and should be banned from travelling for their intoxicated state. 

In her letter to the DCGA on 15 March 2023, Maliwal spoke of the recent cases of flight sexual harassment. She mentioned the case of a man urinating on a 70-year-old female passenger on an Air India 26 November 2022 flight departing from New York to New Delhi. Additionally, the 6 December 2022 instance of flight sexual harassment where a man urinated on the seat of a lady passenger on a flight departing from Paris to New Delhi. Both of these men were believed to be intoxicated as per media reports. 

The DCW recommended an alcohol intake limit be in place. Along with strict instructions in their letter to the DCGA to deal with such instances better they also asked for the actions taken in both of these cases. 

Maliwal expressed her knowledge of the DCGA not providing adequate guidelines for the reportage and redressal of flight sexual harassment in her letter. Additionally, the existing guidelines do not specify the approach to be taken toward highly inebriated individuals. 

The DCW noting these lackings took the liberty to make suggestions on amelioration of flight sexual harassment policies to the effect of low tolerance of unruly behaviour toward female passengers. 

The DCW expects an action report with the suggestions they made from the DCGA within one month. 

Also Read: Drunk Man Urinates On Woman Passenger During Flight From US To Delhi