A woman who was sexually assaulted on a flight to the UK can’t be compensated due to a legal loophole.
Kelly – who is using a fake name for anonymity – was attacked on a Qatar Airways flight from Doha, Qatar, to Gatwick in September last year.
Momade Jussab, 66, of Feltham, was sitting next to her and put his hands down her trousers. He was arrested at Gatwick and jailed in May.
Kelly, who was 24 at the time of the attack, has been denied a payout under the Criminal Injuries Compensation (CIC) scheme.
Officials said that because the incident happened on a plane not registered in Britain, Kelly cannot make a claim.
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Her lawyers have written to the justice secretary, Shabana Mahmood, urging her to close what they believe is a gap in the law.
Kelly, a Londoner in her 20s, told the BBC that Jussab pulled a second blanket over them both as she slept.
She said: ‘His hands were down my trousers and I said to him, “What are you doing?” I said, “Stop”. He said, “No, please”.
‘And I had to force his hand out of my trousers and that just made me get up straight away. I left my phone, I left my bag, I left my passport, I left everything. I left my shoes and ran into the toilet, left the door open [and] told the flight attendant.’
Kelly said she should be entitled to compensation as the incident was investigated and prosecuted by the British authorities.
‘I haven’t been out in almost a year – to events or summer parties with my friends. I can’t do that. I’m too scared,’ she added.
‘I don’t want to be touched or looked at. So it’s never leaving me. It’s literally there every single day before I sleep, I’m thinking about what happened.’
‘Assault can make women fearful to go out’
Nahar Choudhury, the CEO of Solace Women’s Aid, a domestic abuse and sexual violence charity, told Metro that women have the ‘right’ to feel safe on public transport.
‘When that safety is violated, the trauma can be devastating and long-lasting.
‘Women we work with tell us about the mental health struggles they face after an assault that, like Kelly, makes them fearful to go out and live life as they used to.’
In-flight sexual assault incidents have been rising for years – in the US, the FBI investigated 27 sexual misconduct cases aboard aircraft in 2018. By 2022, that number had more than tripled to 90 cases.
Choudhury added: ‘This is why trauma-informed support services like Solace’s are so important to help women and girls rebuild their lives after violence. No survivor should ever be left without the recognition, safety, and support they need to recover.’
The CIC scheme provides compensation for people ‘physically or mentally injured because of a violent crime in England, Scotland or Wales’, according to its website.
Kelly applied for the payout in April, only to receive a letter from the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority, which processes applications, denying the claim as it did not happen in a ‘relevant place’.
Such a ‘place’ is defined by section 92 of the Civil Aviation Act 1982, which concerns ‘British-controlled aircraft’.
As the incident happened on a Qatari-registered plane, officials told Kelly, she was ineligible for compensation.
Leigh Day says that the law was updated in 1966 to allow crimes that occur on UK-bound foreign aircraft to be prosecuted in British courts.
Yet a near-identical loophole in the compensation scheme has not been closed.
Solicitor Claire Powell said: ‘It is a gap that needs closing urgently and we trust the Justice Secretary will agree, particularly in light of this Government’s commitment to addressing violence against women and girls.’
Jussab was jailed for six and a half years as part of an extended sentence in May for one count of sexual assault by penetration and two counts of sexual assault.
A Ministry of Justice spokesperson said: ‘Our thoughts remain with this victim, and we remain resolute in our mission to halve violence against women and girls in a decade.
‘The rules that the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority follows, and the values of payments for injuries, are set by Parliament.
‘Other routes are available for victims to receive support.’
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