Teen Groped On Plane, Airline Blames The Outfit She Wore

Exploring Societal Attitudes and Assault

It seems like you can’t go online these days without hearing about reports of sexual assault and harassment.

A teenage girl was groped on a United Airlines flight. When she reported what happened, they looked at her outfit and told her it was her own fault for wearing something so provocative. We have photos of how she likes to dress so you can decide for yourselves if she did anything wrong.

Chelsea Schiffel was taking a United Airlines flight from LA to Sydney in 2014 when she was 15 years old. She has claimed that, during the flight, an elderly male passenger on the flight touched her breasts twice.

This was all while her 42-year-old mother, Narelle, had gotten up out of her seat to speak to a family member who was seated in the back of the airplane. Multiple incidents occurred across different airlines too. One recent example is the American Airlines Flight incident.

According to Chelsea, the chain of events was set into motion when her mother, 42-year-old Narelle, went to speak with a family member who was seated in the back of the plane and an older male passenger allegedly touched her breasts twice. After the teen told her mother what had happened, Narelle quickly reported the incident to airline staff members, but she didn’t get the type of response for which she had hoped.

Society is trying to reckon with these claims and figure out how to deal with them. But not all companies and individuals are taking a sympathetic tone when it comes to the alleged victims.

Chelsea, a young woman, was sexually assaulted by an older male passenger on a plane. Despite her mother's pleas for different seats, the family was told to stay in their same seats. The incident was blamed on Chelsea's shorts, despite her mother's initial concern.

United Airlines denied allegations of negligence against a teen who allegedly wore shorts on a flight. The airline criticized the teen's choice of clothing and denied any negligence. Chelsea, the teen's mother, questioned the airline's account of events and attempted legal action against United Airlines, but failed due to insufficient evidence. The letter was obtained by News Corp.

Demanding different seats so they could feel safe, the family was instead told to stay put, in their same seats, for the duration of the flight. According to the teen and her family, Chelsea was told that her short shorts were to blame for the incident for even having taken place.

In a letter to the family, which was eventually obtained by News Corp, United Airlines not only denied the family’s allegations but also criticized the teen’s choice of clothing, examples of which were found on the teen’s social media accounts.

“The flight attendants and passengers also stated that you and your daughter were allowed to move to other seats several times, that Chelsea repeatedly moved in and out of her seat, crawling over the other customer who was attempting to sleep, and that your daughter wore extremely short shorts,” the letter read. “You have provided no evidence of any negligence on the part of United regarding this matter.”

Of course, Chelsea took issue with the airlines’ account of events. “For me, it comes across, by them saying that, [it] feels like they were telling me that I was asking for it,” she said. Meanwhile, attempts by the family to take legal action against United Airlines proved unsuccessful due to a lack of sufficient evidence that the incident even occurred.

Chelsea Schiffel argues that a woman's clothing should not be a factor in a sexual assault, but her actions could have been unintentional. The Golden Rule, which suggests doing unto others as you would have them do unto you, may have played a role in the incident.