As women around the United States and across the world share their experiences with sexual harassment and assault as part of the “#MeToo” hashtag campaign, a theme is emerging. Many of these experiences take place on public transit. And more can be done to help discourage harassment and assault, and to ensure that riders feel safe.
For example, bus stops should not be placed in desolate areas or on quiet stretches of urban sidewalk; instead, putting a bus stop near a restaurant, grocery store or other gathering place can help people feel that there are others around to keep an eye on then. Improved lighting in train stations can help dissuade people from thinking it’s okay to inappropriately touch or make comments to other riders.
Countdown clocks can help concerned riders avoid situations that they may assess as dicey. Someone waiting for a bus at night can choose to wait inside a nearby shop or office building, only standing at the stop once the bus is a couple minutes away.
The presence of police can also deter men from believing that they have license to touch, grope or make unwanted remarks to women. And while surveillance cameras help catch people who commit acts of assault or indecent exposure, they rarely make vulnerable train or bus passengers feel safer. There’s little confidence that someone is watching the video closely enough to stop an attack as it’s occurring.
Most of all, it’s important to create systems where women are encouraged to report harassment or assault that they experience on public transit — and to feel confident that their accounts won’t be belittled or ignored.
Though many riders, particularly women, may think it’s a waste of time to report a relatively minor incident such as a verbal harassment from a fellow rider, documenting such episodes is the only way to get transit operators to pay attention to the problem.