Dumb question: Suppose you opt out and get groped. What happens if you report the incident to whatever police force has jurisdiction at the airport? (City cops?)
Though it would be interesting to see the outcome if you did report it.
if you are groped or harassed or otherwise sexually assaulted, you can complain to the agent's supervisor or call the cops. like i said above i'm not sure what the best thing to do is but there certainly are options.
edit: i'm very curious why this comment was downvoted ...
(I'm curious why it was downvoted too.)
I will be traveling with my 4 year old and 6 year old daughters and I am genuinely conflicted about which option to choose for my daughters: Unknown dosage of Xray radiation with un-tested effects on growing bodies, or groping by a stranger.
The ideal outcome from my perspective of challenging this terrible situation would be to have them start screaming "Bad Touch!" at the top of their lungs when they were groped. But I think it is un-fair to them to train them to do that.
Don't say flying is a privilege. Where else should I have to sacrifice one right to exercise another? The 1st amendment to the US constitution implies a right to travel, and the 9th clarifies that the enumeration of rights is not exclusive.
[1] This is not the only example of the TSA borrowing from Kafka. The TSA employs secret directives, reminiscent of Kafka's Before The Law. The Supreme Court supported this secrecy in reviewing these documents in camera in Gilmore vs. Gonzales.