Sexual harassment on aircraft refused compensation

This was September last year when 24 -year -old Kelly was on a flight from Doha to London Gatwick after a visit to Africa.

Firmly with tuck and its headphone under a blanket, he quickly slept after a loud day of the journey. The calm of voices from the film playing on his screen helped him a pack on an overnight flight.

But two hours before the landing, Kelly – whose name has been changed for this article – the man sitting next to him sexually assaulted her.

In the 60s, the person has now been put in jail, but Kelly is finding it difficult to go with her day-to-day life and is locked in the compensation fight.

Speaking about the first time, she tells the BBC that the person pulled another blanket over both of them before the attack.

“His hands were under my trouser and I said to him, ‘What are you doing?” I said, ‘closed’. [and] “She says,” she told the flight attendant.

Kelly was initially taken to a cabin crew seat, until the cabin was taken elsewhere.

“I had to bear the rest of the aircraft journey, which was terrible,” Kelly remembers. “I was very worried … anyone who I left, I would immediately panic because I thought it would be him.”

66 -year -old Momade Jusab was arrested as soon as the flight arrived in Gatwick. He was later accused of a count of sexual harassment and two cases of sexual harassment by penetration, and was found guilty after a test in March. He is now serving a six and a half year jail sentence.

Although Kelly is pleased, he has been convicted, he said that the impact of the attack on him has been serious.

“I didn’t go out in almost a year – for events or summer parties with my friends. I can’t do this. I am very scared. I don’t touch or want to be seen. So it is never leaving me. It is really before sleeping every day, I wondering what happened.”

Kelly is now fighting for compensation under the government’s criminal injuries compensation scheme (CICS).

The scheme compensates for those who have been physically or mentally injured as a result of violent crime. According to CICS guidance, people of sexual or physical abuse can be compensated.

But when Kelly applied on the plan for compensation in April, his application was refused.

A letter from the Compensation Authority (CICA) of criminal injuries – which processes the applications from the Ministry of Justice – said the crime did not happen in the “relevant location” as defined by the plan. He appealed against the verdict but was again refused in May.

The current rules of the scheme suggest that an aircraft is considered only a “relevant location” if it is a British-approved aircraft within the meaning of Section 92 of the Civil Aviation Act 1982. Kelly was told that the crime was on a katri-approved aircraft, it was disqualified for compensation. She believes that this is unfair.

Kelly said, “I think she has been sentenced and what she has done and she is paying the price for her. But what about me? I can’t do anything.” “I just want to give compensation for what I am doing. I want professional help and I want to hear.”

In the firm Leh Day, his lawyers argue that the decision is “irrational”.

In 1996, the Civil Aviation Act was replaced to prosecute the crimes committed on foreign aircraft bound to Britain in criminal courts in Britain. This change meant that Jusab could be arrested and charged when Qatar Airways flight had landed in Gatwick in the last autumn.

But in these cases the victims still cannot claim compensation.

Leh de wants the change to apply to the CICS scheme so that people like Kelly can successfully apply for compensation.

It is telling justice secretary Shabana Mahmud that he stops a difference in the law.

“Under the current plan, it appears that a violent sexual attack on a British -approved aircraft is eligible for compensation, while a foreign registered aircraft victim of the same violent attack – the UK -bound flight where the culprit is prosecuted under the UK law – was excluded,” Clare Powells of Leg Day said.

He immediately replaced it “in light of this government’s commitment to address” violence against women and girls “.

A spokesperson of the Ministry of Justice said: “Our views remain with this victim, and we are firm in our mission to halpend the violence against women and girls in a decade.

“Rules that follow criminal injuries compensation authority, and the values of payment for injuries are determined by Parliament. Other routes are available to get support to victims.”

Along with her fight for compensation, Kelly says that she is speaking to persuade women to be aware of her transport, and when traveling on public transport, especially when alone.

“Please be aware. Please keep in mind. Don’t be afraid, but people are out of there that can really hurt you so be careful. It can happen to you.”

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