by TChris

A policy adopted by TSA on September 22 requires more frequent and thorough searches of airline passengers for explosive materials. The implementation of the policy has angered many women, including Rhonda Gaynier, who was asked to step aside for additional screening.

Using an open hand, a security agent touched her shoulders, under her arms, around her waist, across her bra strap, and between her breasts, Gaynier said - all in front of other passengers.

Sommer Gentry stopped flying as a result of the screening policy.

Gentry said she has had several upsetting encounters with the screeners, and calls the way she was touched "humiliating and deeply offensive." "I will go to great lengths to avoid flying now, because patdowns make me feel dirty and ashamed," she said. "It just gets worse every time. Now I'm afraid."

The policy gives screeners license to touch women on a whim.

The new TSA rules say screeners can select passengers for patdowns based on "visual observations," even if they do not set off metal detectors. Amy Von Walter, a TSA spokeswoman, said screeners are looking for "irregularities in a person's natural shape or contour."

TSA has received 250 complaints since the policy took effect.