Woman’s Feminine Hygiene Product Triggers TSA Search

The incident occurred at TPA, where an unnamed female traveler was stopped and subjected to an intimate search after the product she was wearing set off a scanner.

An unnamed female passenger was subjected to a body search by Transportation Security Administration (TSA) agents in Florida after the feminine hygiene product she was wearing set off an airport scanner at Tampa International Airport (TPA), reports ABC affiliate WSOC-TV.

The woman was heading home to Charlotte, North Carolina from Tampa Bay, Florida when she was stopped by agents. The news outlet reports that the traveler was told that a search was necessary “after part of her body lit up on the scanner’s screen, the exact spot where she was wearing a typical feminine hygiene product.”

The woman, however, initially refused to be searched by agents. Relating the ordeal to the outlet, she said, “The ladies were like, ‘We’re going to have to search your vaginal area and buttocks,’ and ‘I’m like, ‘That makes no sense to me. You can clearly tell that that’s a feminine product.”

The woman went on to say that, “(They said) ‘Ma’am, this is just standard procedure, we have to do this. If you don’t allow us to do this, you will not be boarding your flight.’ I’m crying the entire time because to me, this is very personal for you to search me in those areas, and I don’t feel comfortable. They called in the police and everyone’s standing there looking.”

While the passenger did finally agree to let TSA agents conduct their search in a private room, she has expressed her concern over the incident. Being subjected to an intimate search constitutes “a real issue not just for myself, but for other women”, she said.

The TSA released a statement in the wake of the incident, saying, “We take reports of alleged impropriety very seriously and regret any distress the security screening process may have caused the passenger. TSA conducted a thorough review of the passenger’s screening and concluded that all security protocols were followed as our officers worked to resolve an alarm […] incidents such as the one described are extremely rare and women should not be concerned about going through the security checkpoint,” it added.

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