Women forced to lift up tops before entering football ground.

[DeleteOrDecay]

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/we-were-treated-like-animals-11023143?ICID=FBmirrorr_main

Outrageous. I understand that for safety they need to search people, having been to football matches myself in the past and have had my bag searched etc.

Never have I ever been asked to lift up my top though. Surely if they really needed to do this (and I don't believe they did), it should have been done behind a screen for privacy and dignity. Not many women would be comfortable taking their top off in front of a bunch of strangers.

Is it inappropriate to ask a woman to lift her top in public? Yes

Were they targeting just women? No but an underwire bra will set off metal dectors and most underpants are not underwired

Do we just have one side of the story? Yes, I would wait till the club replies in full before criticising. For all we know the woman could've been asked to move to a descrete location but refused to do so. Just as equally it could've been an abuse of position.

Yes, I'm sure my 75-year-old mother-in-law will be delighted to lift up her top before taking her grand sons to a football match. Or a golf tournament. Or Wimbledon.

I like that man thinks multiple women's "stories" count as one side.

Let's give equal time to the club who have quite a bit to lose with this in the news.

Well I believe ALL of them

One side of the story yes but what would the people who complained have to gain exactly?

The club in question has a lot more to lose in this and are more inclined to sugarcoat what happened as this is very bad PR for them indeed.

I believe the complainants, I have no reason not to.

and most underpants are not underwired

but zips are...you know, those metal things in trousers that equally could set off any metal detectors.

I need to speak to the security at Wimbledon, the 02 and Wembley. They have never made me lift my top up. They are obviously crap at their job. You would think with them being actual terrorist targets that they would follow this example.

I don't think my friend had to lift her top for the world athletics at the Olympic Stadium either - will have to ask her

Or the London eye, the tower of London. Anyone been to the houses of parliament recently, much of it going on there?

Oh fuck that shit. There are no circumstances in which it would be ok to tell a woman (or man) to semi strip in public.

I've been to both the eye and parliament recently. Not once was I asked to show them my breasts.

Love it when people trot out 'privilege' in an argument about why we should have less autonomy over our bodies .

You're right, I am a white middle aged woman, I should shut the fuck up and get my tits out in public. Only this time it's for the purpose of security public humiliation and not liberal feminism sexual titiillation for men

Coming back to the original incident at this football stadium, I would suggest strongly worded letters of complaint are written to the safety officer, who is the safety certificate holder. If there is no suitable response, the next route is escalating it to the local safety advisory group (SAG) who are made up of representatives from the stadium, local authority and emergency services, and are the regulatory body for the stadium itself.

If airports manage it without...

Are men asked to do it, too?

@catsareassholes why has me being male got anything to do with it? Perhaps I just like to hear ALL the evidence before I judge people.

@deleteordecay your quite right you've no reason to not believe them but not have you a reason to believe them. I don't think they're doing it for a payout but I do like to hear accounts from all involved before making a decision either way.

@alternativetentical you're quite right some zips are metal but they rarely set off 'wand' style metal detectors. Don't know why.

@glitterglue could t agree more. The police can't strip you in public so neither should security at a football ground.

No but an underwire bra will set off metal detectors

Not much, in my experience.

The men who did this are obviously just out to humiliate women because they can. It's a power trip, pure and simple. Nasty fuckers

@OlennasWimple except they were female security staff according to the report I read.

@Lweji okay, poor choice of words. 'Can' set them off.

No but an underwire bra will set off metal detectors

Not in my experience either.

Neverknowing

I'm from this town and live six miles away now. Have to say. Your statement is totally ridiculous and untrue. It's unbelievable.

However I don't agree with the football clubs actions in this case.
It's hardly the whole town though

I'm still amazed to see that other women find this acceptable in any way. I get that those who haven't had years / decades of putting up with misogyny, sexual harassment / abuse and general oppression as a woman may wish to play the 'let's hear both sides' card but come on people, women being asked to lift their top in public to show their bra in order to access a football ground? or anywhere for that matter?
It is so unacceptable that it defies belief that some people are justifying it. It's an abuse of power and yet again, women are the target.
So frustrating that there's even a debate about the legitimacy of this.

Explodes in a puff of feminist frustration
(I lifted that from another poster on another thread - thank you whoever that was - but it so typifies how I feel these days
)

Explodes in a puff of feminist frustration also applies to the end of my post