IndiGo, one of the world’s largest airlines, has introduced a feature that allows female passengers to select seats next to other female travelers. The Indian airline’s initiative, which is currently in the pilot phase, allows women to view the gender of other passengers on the seat map during check-in.

The feature “is designed to make the travel experience more pleasant for our female passengers,” an IndiGo spokesperson said via email. Female travelers checking in for a flight will notice pink seats on the seat selection page, which means another female passenger will take the seat. Only passengers who were specified as female when booking will be able to access the new feature, so male passengers will not see the gender of other travelers.

Given the reports of harassment and assault on airplanes, some women may feel more comfortable with this option. Women have been touched and groped on airplanes by strangers sitting next to them, but there are no reliable statistics on how often this happens. In 2014, Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton introduced a bill to record sexual assault on airplanes, but unfortunately it did not pass.

In the United States, such incidents often come to light through lawsuits. Several such cases have come to light in recent years, including one in which a woman is suing Delta Airlines for her involvement in a sexual assault. According to the lawsuit, the man sitting next to her admitted to taking her hand and placing it on his crotch. He also reached under the woman’s shirt and touched her breasts. The lawsuit alleges that Delta served the passenger too much alcohol, failed to adequately train employees on how to prevent and treat sexual assault, and failed to protect passengers. Delta is also facing a lawsuit for serving too much alcohol to a man who groped a 13-year-old girl during a flight.

Most major airlines have had similar problems. Two off-duty police officers helped detain a man on an Alaska Airlines flight who was groping a woman. And on another Alaska Airlines flight, a woman reported that a man used a blanket to hide his touching of her thigh. Even in first class, you’re not necessarily safe. A woman is suing American Airlines because the man next to her in first class touched her hair and grabbed her butt. Spirit and United have also had problems on flights.

Not all victims are women. Southwest Airlines was sued this year by a 16-year-old boy who was groped by a drunk 50-year-old man sitting next to him.

Such groping is nothing new. Two decades ago, the former speaker of Hawaii’s House of Representatives resigned after being accused of groping the woman next to him in the crotch. And nearly a decade ago, a Catholic priest was sentenced to six months in prison for groping the breasts of the woman in the seat next to him. While there are numerous reports of groping, it’s important to remember that nearly 3 million people fly every day and the vast majority of men are respectful of their fellow passengers.

IndiGo, the airline that now allows women to choose the gender of their seatmate, has also faced reports of assault. Last year, a female IndiGo passenger reported that the man sitting next to her lifted the armrest and groped her during an overnight flight. Furthermore, in 2023, another woman reported that she was groped by a drunk man while waiting in line to board an IndiGo flight.

Regardless of the airline, most reports of harassing passengers involve intoxicated passengers. Other airlines concerned about this problem may want to reconsider their alcohol service policies.

An Indigo representative said the new program was introduced following market research and “is currently in pilot mode, in line with our #GirlPower ethos.” The airline has made further efforts to empower women and girls, touting that it has one of the highest percentages of female pilots of any airline in the world.