Originally Posted by
naxos
... my daughter was instructed to "follow" the TSA officer- no option given. I followed them to the groping room- one officer asked the other if the door should be closed...which it was. I waited outside the door. No option given for a witness but I suspect I could/should have demanded to be present even if she is an adult.
Big mistake, and contrary to established TSA policy (though we all know what happens when TSOs on site are in a "not today" mood). You do not have to go into a private room, and you have a right to have a witness / traveling companion with you to watch the patdown, regardless of age. (You can recruit a stranger from the line if you're traveling alone.)
There is
no way a passenger, especially a woman, should submit to a private groping of intimate areas by TSA. Too many cases on the record of assaultive touching tantamount to date rape. This patdown served no security function. It was done solely to upset your daughter. (What kind of sophisticated security question is, "What do you have in your pants?") You want as many witnesses as you can get.