Sexual harassment in the sky
HK female flight attendants to fight back against bad behaviour
Hong Kong: Immaculate-looking flight attendants who appear unruffled by the demands of a life spent in the air are part of the slick image sold by carriers – but Hong Kongbased workers are increasingly hitting back against sexual harassment.
Female cabin crew recall of how they had been harassed by not only passengers but also other airline staff.
While they say carriers have made some steps in the right direction, they argue airlines still lag far behind in the #MeToo era.
Venus Fung, whose experiences drove her to join and lead the Cabin Attendants Union of Hong Kong, says airlines must teach workers on how to deal with harassment.
Fung, 29, said the issue was never raised in her company training.
The Hong Kong-based attendant said she had been physically picked up by a pilot who touched her chest, waist and bottom, commenting she had a nice body, when she was new to the job more than two years ago.
“At that moment I was really angry, but I was mostly also panicking and afraid. My mind went completely blank – I had no idea what to do or how to react,” said Fung, who works for a European airline which she did not want to identify for fear of recrimination.
The cabin manager who witnessed the incident did not intervene, Fung added, instead threatening to report her for wearing a skirt that was “too tight”.
As a result Fung stopped wearing skirts at work for more than a year, opting for trousers instead.
She has since been training colleagues on how to report sexual harassment and seek help, but said long-term cultural changes are needed.
“When a flight attendant comes out it looks very fancy with the uniform, heels and makeup. There are fantasies around this industry and it’s hard to change public perception but it absolutely cannot be an excuse for bad behaviour,” Fung said, calling for an awareness-raising campaign.
“Education is key to changing
people’s attitudes. It’s difficult to carry out overnight, it takes time, but that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t do these things.”
The airline did not respond to requests for comment.
The complaints from attendants like Fung come as demands for change grow worldwide.
The US-based Association of Flight Attendants last year called on
American airlines to “renounce the past objectification of flight attendants”.
Vietnamese budget carrier VietJet, which has staffed some of its inaugural flights with bikini-clad attendants and publishes a calendar featuring scantily-dressed models posing on planes, has sparked criticism for its marketing ploys.
Owned by Vietnam’s only female billionaire, the airline had to apologise for sending lingerie models to join the country’s under-23 football squad on a flight home in January after a social media outcry.
Despite Cathay launching an online course with a special section on sexual harassment for Hong Kong cabin staff in March, the union says some in-flight managers continue to distrust staff who report cases.
A Cathay attendant who did not want to be identified said her in-flight manager had been reluctant to warn a passenger who had patted her head and back repeatedly, which she described as “humiliating”.
“I felt angry and sad. I was the concerned party, not just relaying the incident... And after telling him, the supervisor was still not supportive,” she said.
Cathay Pacific said it provided training to all staff on the “prevention and elimination of discrimination and harassment in the workplace”.
But attendant Michelle Choi said the company needed to go further to support staff in taking immediate action. — AFP