Male rights on airplanes due to be tested
The controversial issue of seating unaccompanied children away from males on Air New Zealand and Qantas flights is due to hit the courts with an official complaint being lodged by NZ National Party political correctness spokesman Wayne Mapp.
He has filed a formal submission to the Human Rights Commission against the policy, which is used by both airlines.This move comes three months after revelations that an Auckland man was asked to change seats with a woman passenger on a Qantas flight from Christchurch to Auckland to ensure he did not sit next to an unaccompanied child.
The commission has received 30 complaints since and is still trying to set up a mediation process to deal with them.
Dr Mapp said: “The Air New Zealand/Qantas decision not to seat unaccompanied children beside male passengers is a breach of both the fundamental principles or our democracy and the Human Rights Act.
“The basis for this policy is that men are a greater risk to children than women.”
“It would be wrong, for instance, for an airline to have a policy not to seat children beside young Maori men on the basis of the higher crime rate of young Maori men, compared to the general population. No airline would even think of having such a policy. They would know it would be both morally and legally wrong,” he said.
A spokesman for the commission said it was still trying to identify the best process for setting up a mediation involving all the parties.
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