Achi news desk-
A woman from Burlington, Ont., says she was forced to walk naked from above the waist through an airport security line in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic earlier this month.
“I was completely humiliated and traumatized,” Natasha Marques told Global News in an exclusive interview.
Marques, 23, flew from Toronto to Punta Cana on March 1 for a week’s vacation with a friend.
The two women arrived at Punta Cana airport on March 8 and proceeded to the security screening line after dropping off their bags.
Marques said a woman in the line in front of her was told to take off her sweater by a male security officer at the airport. She did, after raising objections.
Marques said the other female passenger was wearing a bikini bathing suit under her sweater.
But after Marques placed her items on the conveyor belt, the same officer ordered her in Spanish to remove her athletic hoodie. She says he used his hands to show that the top should come off.
Marques was wearing nothing underneath. She says she told the officer that repeatedly.
“I said I don’t have anything underneath, I’m naked underneath,” said Marques.
She says she lifted her hoodie part way to reveal bare skin, to prove her point.
The officer, he said, continued to insist.
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Marques says she resisted the officer’s demands for up to six minutes while her friend watched what was happening.
“I felt like I had no choice, I had to take off my sweater,” Marques said.
“I honestly thought I was going to be detained or charged – that I was going to be stuck in the Dominican Republic for a few days or weeks,” if she didn’t comply , said Marques.
She says she took off her hoodie, placed it on the conveyor belt, and walked through the metal detector with a hand on each breast.
After putting her top back on, she says the officer is nearby and watching her.
“He’s staring at my breasts,” Marques said.
“I’m bawling my eyes out, I can’t comprehend what happened to me,” he told Global News.
Marques said that after returning to Toronto, she alerted Sunwing about the incident.
Two hours after Global News contacted Sunwing for comment, the travel company emailed an apology to Marques.
“We are certainly sorry to hear about the upset you experienced while at the airport,” wrote a representative.
“We have started an investigation into these matters,” Sunwing added, promising to update when the company has more information.
Global News asked the Punta Cana airport to explain what happened when Marques went through the line earlier this month.
“Punta Cana airport does not have jurisdiction over the process in these cases,” spokeswoman Francina Herasme wrote, redirecting inquiries to the National Drug Control Directorate and the Specialized Airport Security Corps. Comments from those agencies were not available as of this publication.
But Matthew Vaughan, director of security at the International Air Transport Association (IATA), said forcing someone to walk partially naked through a metal detector was unacceptable.
“That is 100 percent completely against best international practices and standards,” Vaughan said from his office in Geneva, Switzerland.
Vaughan told Global News that there would have to be a threat or other reason to ask someone to remove clothing, other than jackets, for example.
If passengers were asked for closer screening, Vaughan says the passenger would have to agree and be given privacy.
“Secure facilities, sealed off from public view are to be available for further inspection,” Vaughan said.
Nora Dunn, a Toronto career traveler and YouTube content creator, said she was shocked to hear about what happened to Marques.
“I think she’s stuck between a rock and a hard place. I think she is within her rights to request a private screening room with a female officer. But when we travel, we’re out of our element, naturally, we’re overwhelmed, maybe we’re dealing with language and culture barriers,” Dunn said.
“And the airport security process, no matter where you are in the world, is uncomfortable to say the least. So this airport official was clearly acting unethically and could have made her life much more difficult if she hadn’t complied.”
— With files from Ryan Rocca
& copy 2024 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
