Setting of women-only train compartments is the best solution
to the problem of indecent assaults in the MTR
The problem of indecent assaults in the MTR has become more serious and a better solution is needed. There were 197 cases of indecent assault in 2012, which is 18% more when compared with 2011. (Chiu, J., 2013,). You may think that the problem is not very serious based on the above figure, but the fact is that most of the victims will not alert the police because of embarrassment, confusion and uselessness. According to a research done by a rape crisis organization, more than a third of the women surveyed have been victims of sexual crime (Lau, S., 2012), the situation is much worse than our imagination. Meanwhile, the recent method like reliance on women’s reports, the use of plainclothes and the launched of new MTR campaign cannot successfully protect women. Setting up women-only train compartments is the best solution on solving this problem.
The methods we used now cannot effectively protect women’s security. Relying women’s reports and arranging plainclothes are the main methods adopted on solving the problem and with more public awareness on the problem, the MTR had also launched the campaign of “Don’t be silent” to tackle it. However, the usefulness of the above measures is limited.
For the reliance on women’s reports, it is not practical as “assault” can be unintentional as in such overcrowded environment especially during the peak hour, every one are pushing each other in order to get into the train. In addition, it is difficult for women to identify who the offender is when they are surrounded by many people. With the above confusion, they seldom report and their silent further encourage the offenders’ action. What is more, an online survey done by a rape crisis organization showed that more than 90%of the victims are worry about being blamed by other passengers if they caused a delay when they alerted police so they choose not to report. (Lau, S. 2012) This show that relying on the report of women is ineffective as they got too much to worry before they can claim down and seek help.
The MTR Company also noticed that women are not brave enough to seek help, therefore, they launched the campaign of “Don’t be silent” to promote the concept of reporting indecent assault immediately since 2009. (MTR train services and station facilities, 2011) Although it had been launched for three years, the number of cases of indecent assault on MTR is still increasing year by year. We may saw this result as a success in encouraging women to report. However, in another way, it shows that the offenders are not scared by this campaign. It is not a solution to the problem.
While the use of plainclothes seem successful in catching the offenders as we sometimes saw the news, but in fact, it got limited effect in solving the problem. The plainclothes cannot be on the train every time and their coverage was limited. It can caught some offenders occasionally and help deterrent some of them from committing indecent assaults. However, it cannot really help eliminating the problem.
The used of recent methods are too weak in protecting women basic security, we need a stronger solution to tackle the problem.
The setting up of women-only train compartments is definitely the best solution in solving the problem of indecent assaults in the MTR. It can provide women an environment that is free of confusion even during the peak hour. Women can then take the MTR without any concerns. Many countries like Japan, Taiwan and Mexico, had already adopt this measure to protect women and the reason behind is that it is too difficult to eliminate all the possibilities of indecent assault if men and women are not separated. Most of us understand the effectiveness of this measure, but why we refused to use it?
The main reasons in refuting the set up of women-only train compartments are that it may involve gender discrimination, significant cost and the doubt on feasibility in daily operation.
Some may see it as gender discrimination but shouldn't we consider the safety of women first? If women were not suffering from incident assaults, there will be no need to set up the women only passenger cars. It is aiming at protecting human basic security, not to discriminate men. Indeed, the setting up of women-only train compartments is also good to men. As mentioned in the news “Japan tries women-only train cars to stop groping” (2005), many male passengers are afraid of being misunderstood as committing indecent assault as in such crowd environment; they will accidentally touch the female passengers. As a result, the idea of setting up women-only carriages is also supported by two-third of the male respondents. (Cheng, J., 2011) Setting up of women-only train compartment is actually protecting women from the assault and avoiding the embarrassment the male passenger face at the same time. It is beneficial to both female and male passengers.
Another reason of rejecting the implementation of women-only train compartments is that it involves a significant amount of cost. The spokeswoman of MTR claims that”Separate carriages would not be cost-effective as they would require extra staff.”(Lee, S, 2006) It is true that the setting up of women-only passenger carriages involves cost, but it is worth it to do so. What we are doing is to avoid the possibility of the happening of crimes, which is beneficial to the society. In addition, the number of staff needed will be fewer when people adapt to the changes and with clear instruction on trains and adequate promotion, the number of staff needed can also be lower. The MTR Company is earning considerable profit each year; shouldn’t it spend some money in improving its security standard?
In terms of feasibility in daily operation, some may concerns about the problem of children, the monitoring methods and the punishment issue. For these questions, we can seek answer from the experienced countries like Japan. In Japan, the women-only train compartment also allows entry of male children, disabled person and their assistants. Apart from arranging staff to monitor the situation, public pressure is also an effective method. With adequate promotion, male passengers will feel strange when they get into the women-only train compartments and eventually move back to the normal train without others force. When considering the punishment issue, it seems to be too mean if we punished those who wrongly get into the women-only part. It is better not to set a punishment. In addition, the implementation of First-class Carriage in KCR also proof that setting up of a special train section got no operational problem already, we can also make use of our experience in it. Therefore, the concerns on the difficulties in operation are actually solvable.
If we don’t act to protect women, the problem of indecent assault could become more serious. We find a solution and have example to learn from. Why are we doing nothing now? Please set up the women-only train compartments to protect the basic security of women.
References
Chiu, J. (2013, Feb 08) “MTR photo ‘sex crime’ complaints increase on MTR”.
South China Morning Post. Retrieved from
http://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1145507/mtr-photo-sex-crime-complaints-increase-mtr
Lau, S. (2012, Nov 22). I in 3 women falls victim to sex crime on MTR, poll says assaults go unreported by victims, who fear disrupting passengers and say police do little. South China Morning Post. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/1179104791?accountid=10134
MTR train services and station facilities, (2011, Oct 19) Retrieved from
http://www.info.gov.hk/gia/general/201110/19/P201110190155.htm
Annex 3 of the document titled “MTR train services and station facilities” (2011, Oct 19) Retrieved from
http://gia.info.gov.hk/general/201110/19/P201110190155_0155_85518.pdf
Japan Tries Women-Only Train Cars to Stop Groping (2005, June 10) Retrieved from
http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/International/story?id=803965&CMP=OTC-RSSFeeds0312#.UXXtY6I9H7M
Cheng, J. (2011, Sep 06). 1 in 8 MTR assault victims are men, survey finds two-thirds of male respondents support separate carriages for women to help cut down on attacks. South China Morning Post. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/887605843?accountid=10134
Lee, S. (2006, Nov 07). Women-only rail carriages rejected by train operators MTR and KCR block moves aimed to stop indecent assaults. South China Morning Post. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/266511090?accountid=10134
The methods we used now cannot effectively protect women’s security. Relying women’s reports and arranging plainclothes are the main methods adopted on solving the problem and with more public awareness on the problem, the MTR had also launched the campaign of “Don’t be silent” to tackle it. However, the usefulness of the above measures is limited.
For the reliance on women’s reports, it is not practical as “assault” can be unintentional as in such overcrowded environment especially during the peak hour, every one are pushing each other in order to get into the train. In addition, it is difficult for women to identify who the offender is when they are surrounded by many people. With the above confusion, they seldom report and their silent further encourage the offenders’ action. What is more, an online survey done by a rape crisis organization showed that more than 90%of the victims are worry about being blamed by other passengers if they caused a delay when they alerted police so they choose not to report. (Lau, S. 2012) This show that relying on the report of women is ineffective as they got too much to worry before they can claim down and seek help.
The MTR Company also noticed that women are not brave enough to seek help, therefore, they launched the campaign of “Don’t be silent” to promote the concept of reporting indecent assault immediately since 2009. (MTR train services and station facilities, 2011) Although it had been launched for three years, the number of cases of indecent assault on MTR is still increasing year by year. We may saw this result as a success in encouraging women to report. However, in another way, it shows that the offenders are not scared by this campaign. It is not a solution to the problem.
While the use of plainclothes seem successful in catching the offenders as we sometimes saw the news, but in fact, it got limited effect in solving the problem. The plainclothes cannot be on the train every time and their coverage was limited. It can caught some offenders occasionally and help deterrent some of them from committing indecent assaults. However, it cannot really help eliminating the problem.
The used of recent methods are too weak in protecting women basic security, we need a stronger solution to tackle the problem.
The setting up of women-only train compartments is definitely the best solution in solving the problem of indecent assaults in the MTR. It can provide women an environment that is free of confusion even during the peak hour. Women can then take the MTR without any concerns. Many countries like Japan, Taiwan and Mexico, had already adopt this measure to protect women and the reason behind is that it is too difficult to eliminate all the possibilities of indecent assault if men and women are not separated. Most of us understand the effectiveness of this measure, but why we refused to use it?
The main reasons in refuting the set up of women-only train compartments are that it may involve gender discrimination, significant cost and the doubt on feasibility in daily operation.
Some may see it as gender discrimination but shouldn't we consider the safety of women first? If women were not suffering from incident assaults, there will be no need to set up the women only passenger cars. It is aiming at protecting human basic security, not to discriminate men. Indeed, the setting up of women-only train compartments is also good to men. As mentioned in the news “Japan tries women-only train cars to stop groping” (2005), many male passengers are afraid of being misunderstood as committing indecent assault as in such crowd environment; they will accidentally touch the female passengers. As a result, the idea of setting up women-only carriages is also supported by two-third of the male respondents. (Cheng, J., 2011) Setting up of women-only train compartment is actually protecting women from the assault and avoiding the embarrassment the male passenger face at the same time. It is beneficial to both female and male passengers.
Another reason of rejecting the implementation of women-only train compartments is that it involves a significant amount of cost. The spokeswoman of MTR claims that”Separate carriages would not be cost-effective as they would require extra staff.”(Lee, S, 2006) It is true that the setting up of women-only passenger carriages involves cost, but it is worth it to do so. What we are doing is to avoid the possibility of the happening of crimes, which is beneficial to the society. In addition, the number of staff needed will be fewer when people adapt to the changes and with clear instruction on trains and adequate promotion, the number of staff needed can also be lower. The MTR Company is earning considerable profit each year; shouldn’t it spend some money in improving its security standard?
In terms of feasibility in daily operation, some may concerns about the problem of children, the monitoring methods and the punishment issue. For these questions, we can seek answer from the experienced countries like Japan. In Japan, the women-only train compartment also allows entry of male children, disabled person and their assistants. Apart from arranging staff to monitor the situation, public pressure is also an effective method. With adequate promotion, male passengers will feel strange when they get into the women-only train compartments and eventually move back to the normal train without others force. When considering the punishment issue, it seems to be too mean if we punished those who wrongly get into the women-only part. It is better not to set a punishment. In addition, the implementation of First-class Carriage in KCR also proof that setting up of a special train section got no operational problem already, we can also make use of our experience in it. Therefore, the concerns on the difficulties in operation are actually solvable.
If we don’t act to protect women, the problem of indecent assault could become more serious. We find a solution and have example to learn from. Why are we doing nothing now? Please set up the women-only train compartments to protect the basic security of women.
References
Chiu, J. (2013, Feb 08) “MTR photo ‘sex crime’ complaints increase on MTR”.
South China Morning Post. Retrieved from
http://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1145507/mtr-photo-sex-crime-complaints-increase-mtr
Lau, S. (2012, Nov 22). I in 3 women falls victim to sex crime on MTR, poll says assaults go unreported by victims, who fear disrupting passengers and say police do little. South China Morning Post. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/1179104791?accountid=10134
MTR train services and station facilities, (2011, Oct 19) Retrieved from
http://www.info.gov.hk/gia/general/201110/19/P201110190155.htm
Annex 3 of the document titled “MTR train services and station facilities” (2011, Oct 19) Retrieved from
http://gia.info.gov.hk/general/201110/19/P201110190155_0155_85518.pdf
Japan Tries Women-Only Train Cars to Stop Groping (2005, June 10) Retrieved from
http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/International/story?id=803965&CMP=OTC-RSSFeeds0312#.UXXtY6I9H7M
Cheng, J. (2011, Sep 06). 1 in 8 MTR assault victims are men, survey finds two-thirds of male respondents support separate carriages for women to help cut down on attacks. South China Morning Post. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/887605843?accountid=10134
Lee, S. (2006, Nov 07). Women-only rail carriages rejected by train operators MTR and KCR block moves aimed to stop indecent assaults. South China Morning Post. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/266511090?accountid=10134