What do You See in This Report of a British Airways Flight Attendant Allegedly Sexually Assaulted by a 'Colleague'?

It happened in Brazil. The FA did the one key thing ALL of you need to do if you're assaulted on a layover.

This latest case, hot off the presses, caught my eye. Note: the usual trigger warnings for discussion and brief description of sexual assault.

Before I get to that…I know I owe some of you personal emails and updates about my recent hiatus, and about potential interviews about cases I haven’t covered yet. I’m doing my best to stay on top of it and if you’re waiting for a response, feel free to nudge me.

Now…

The British Airways Case

I don’t have anything exclusive on this one (I don’t know if I’ve ever written about a case here I didn’t have some exclusive information on? Let me know in the comments if you recall one I’ve forgotten about. If you have inside information, I’m all ears. I know a few BA people so I might check in with them this week).

I want to know what you see in the way this incident is being reported and the way an inside “source” speaks about it.

Let me know in the comments.

Photo by Arkin Si on Unsplash

On a layover in Rio on November 10, just a week or so ago, The Sun newspaper exclusively reports, a BA flight attendant woke up in bed with two male colleagues:

“The stewardess told police that the man molested her while arousing himself as the pair were in bed with a third male colleague in an airline hotel room.

She had spent the previous night partying with the pair.

Only one of the men have been reported to cops.

BA immediately "stood him down" and sent him back to the UK.

She told Rio cops and airline bosses, who started an investigation.” (Editor’s note to all FAs: This is KEY. As daunting as it will be, outside of your base country, you MUST report to local police. This affords your airline much less of a chance to ignore you and retaliate against you for reporting, like American Airlines did in this horrific miscarriage of justice that also stemmed from an alleged assault by an AA pilot in Brazil on a layover).

So far, so good (though I thought “stewardess” went out with landlines, even in the UK?).

I’ve covered crime and terrorism in England, and I know Scotland Yard doesn’t reveal details of ongoing cases, so someone close to the case inside BA contacted The Sun to…get ahead of this? Get it out there? We can only speculate. But there are some clues here. Do you see them?

The story continues:

A source said: “This incident has traumatised some staff and shocked everyone at BA.

“How the crew member ended up in bed with two male colleagues is not known. But the group had been out drinking the night before.

“An evening of high-jinx the night before has resulted in an incredibly serious and upsetting allegation the following morning, which could end careers and lead to criminal convictions.

“Some of the people involved have long-term partners at home and the fall-out from this is devastating for a lot of people.”

Below this line I’m going to give my reaction, but I know that if you have ever been a victim of sexual assault you will see what I see.

Words matter. The way we talk about sexual assault matters. The way we stigmatize and attempt to discredit victims and survivors from the outset matters. It needs to change. And to do that, we need to speak out, share, converse, call it out.

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My Takeaway:

The newspaper chose to highlight a quote from the “source” that uses the powerful word “traumatized”—but did you notice it’s not directed at the alleged victim?

Rather, they used it to refer to the consequences the alleged perpetrator might face for his own actions.

The next lines make a point of saying the victim was drinking. Check.

The source uses minimizing and jaunty language—“hijinks”—to set up a boys-will-be-boys all-in-good-fun scenario.

Then comes the kicker:

…an incredibly serious and upsetting allegation the following morning, which could end careers and lead to criminal convictions.

“Some of the people involved have long-term partners at home and the fall-out from this is devastating for a lot of people.”

Here we go. The concern is for the man’s reputation, NOT the victim’s well-being! The handwringing is for the “fall-out” for partners at home.

Not for the alleged victim. Not for the upcoming flashbacks, shame, embarrassment, sleeplessness, feelings of violation, humiliating questioning, victim-blaming and minimizing this alleged victim is about to face.

It’s outrageous, but sadly par for the course, and I fear it’s only going to get worse, not better.

Read The Sun’s full story here (I don’t like giving Murdoch’s publications clicks but it can’t be helped in this case), but it goes on to say:

“BA has been offering support to those who need it and bosses are doing everything they can in what is an incredibly difficult situation.”

Last night British Airways told The Sun: “It would be inappropriate to comment during a police investigation.”

And Scotland Yard told The Sun: “Police are investigating an allegation of sexual assault committed against a female whilst she was abroad in South America.

“The victim is being supported by specialist officers.”

My thoughts and sympathies are with this flight attendant, and I applaud her for having the guts, knowledge and strength to report this to every relevant authority.

Thanks for reading.

-Sara

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About the Author

I’m an award-winning journalist and bestselling author with decades of international experience writing for magazines and newspapers including People, Newsweek, U.S. News & World Report, the Sunday Times Magazine (UK), Glamour, Shape, Epicurious.com, and more.

My 2021 memoir/military history book The Strong Ones: How a Band of Civilian Women Made Their Mark on the Army was an overnight #1 bestseller on Amazon in 2021. Said former U.S. Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta, “The Strong Ones provides an inspirational message for our times.”

My crime reporting includes the most high-profile cases of the past decades. I’ve been sent to Italy to report on the Amanda Knox case, Portugal to cover Madeleine McCann’s disappearance, London to cover the aftermath of the 7/7 bombings, L.A. for the death of Michael Jackson, and Sandy Hook, Conn. to cover the horrific school shooting, to name a few.

I was the first-ever recipient of the Jane Cunningham Croly Award for Excellence in Journalism Covering Issues of Concern to Women from the General Federation of Women’s Clubs. Winners after me included Marianne Pearl, and judges were legends in journalism like Judy Woodruff. I contributed to the feminist anthology Letters of Intent (Free Press/Simon & Schuster, 1999) alongside such icons as Gloria Steinem, Ntozake Shange and Judy Blume, receiving a review from the New York Times. I am the author of a total of 13 fiction and nonfiction books, some of them under a pen name.