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“Grope Patrol” in Boston Curbs Sexual Harassment on the Subway
May 22, 2008 11:37 AM
Boston police have started a new initiative to keep subway gropers in check: posters and undercover cops called the “grope patrol” are now fixtures on the “T.”
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Police in Boston have started a new initiative aimed at preventing sexual harassment in the subway. NPR reports that Boston officials have “plastered subway cars with nearly a thousand signs urging victims to speak out—and warning potential predators that they are being watched by cameras.”
In addition, the Boston police have set up the “grope patrol,” a group of undercover officers who ride the subways with an eye-out for inappropriate touching.
According to transit officials, women “usually don’t report groping incidents because they’re embarrassed and don't believe it will have any effect.”
A New York City survey published last summer suggests that there’s some validity to these statements. The Office of the Manhattan Borough President, Scott M. Stringer conducted an online survey where 9 out of 10 victims of subway harassment admitted to not reporting the incident. However, the Wall Street Journal criticized the survey’s methodology.
Dramatic measures have been taken in other countries to help deter sexual harassment on public transportation. In Mexico City, women can now ride segregated buses. In Japan, a new cell phone application allows women to send warning messages to sexual predators.
Some believe these measures to be extreme. “Bare legs, short skirts and plunging necklines” may encourage harassers, noted one male blogger, in response to last summer’s New York survey.
Other independent organizations have taken matters into their own hands. A group of Web sites known as “Holla Backs” encourages women to send in photos of their harassers.
In addition, the Boston police have set up the “grope patrol,” a group of undercover officers who ride the subways with an eye-out for inappropriate touching.
According to transit officials, women “usually don’t report groping incidents because they’re embarrassed and don't believe it will have any effect.”
A New York City survey published last summer suggests that there’s some validity to these statements. The Office of the Manhattan Borough President, Scott M. Stringer conducted an online survey where 9 out of 10 victims of subway harassment admitted to not reporting the incident. However, the Wall Street Journal criticized the survey’s methodology.
Dramatic measures have been taken in other countries to help deter sexual harassment on public transportation. In Mexico City, women can now ride segregated buses. In Japan, a new cell phone application allows women to send warning messages to sexual predators.
Some believe these measures to be extreme. “Bare legs, short skirts and plunging necklines” may encourage harassers, noted one male blogger, in response to last summer’s New York survey.
Other independent organizations have taken matters into their own hands. A group of Web sites known as “Holla Backs” encourages women to send in photos of their harassers.
Headline Link: ‘Boston puts the squeeze on subway gropers’
Police in Boston have started a new initiative to help protect female riders from sexual harassment on crowded subway trains. In addition to plastering subway cars with posters urging women to speak out if harassed, the Boston police have established the “grope patrol,” a group of undercover police officers who keep an eye out for inappropriate touching on the subway. As a result, reporting of groping incidents and arrests have increased substantially during the past month.
Source: NPR
Background: Sexual harassment on public transportation
In 2007, nearly 1,800 people responded to an online survey about sexual harassment in the New York City subway system; 63 percent of respondents claimed to have been sexually harassed on the subway. However, a Wall Street Journal blog, “The Numbers Guy,” asserts that the survey’s data is seriously flawed: “major methodological problems were hidden in plain sight, both in the report and in resulting press coverage.”
Source: The Wall Street Journal
FindingDulcinea reports on the women-only bus lines started in Mexico City to help protect female passengers from sexual harassment. According to the piece, frequent complaints suggest that “men use overcrowded public spaces as an excuse to leer at and touch women inappropriately.”
Source: findingDulcinea
Women on Japan’s commuter trains defend themselves against gropers with their cell phones. “Anti-Groping Appli" by Takahashi was released in late 2005 and has become increasingly popular as it allows women to flash the words “Did you just grope me? Shall we head to the police?” at anyone making unwelcome advances.
Source: JapanAddicted [Mainichi Daily News]
Opinion & Analysis: What’s the best way to reduce sexual harassment?
A response to the New York sexual harassment survey was posted on the New Jersey Transit Blog. One passenger remarked, “No one wants to encourage sexual harassment on the subway … but if ogling, staring and drooling count towards incidents of sexual harassment, then perhaps the key words might be dress appropriately.”
Source: NJ.com
Jessica Valenti at the Guardian wonders if the international move to segregate public transportation (which has occurred in Tokyo, Rio de Janeiro, Moscow, Cairo as well as Mexico City) is “the latest in ‘girl power’ or a sexist solution to a much bigger problem?”
Source: The Guardian
Related Topic: Urban dwellers create their own antiharassment measures
A group of Web sites called “Holla Backs” encourage people to send photos and written accounts of sexual harassers who have bothered them in public. Geared toward women and “people of other marginalized groups unsafe in public spaces,” there are Holla Backs devoted to Boston, New York, Miami, Chicago and other locations.
Source: HollaBackBoston
Right Rides is a New York City-based organization committed to reducing sexual harassment and assault in public. According to its Web site, Right Rides “offers women, transpeople and gender queer individuals a free, late-night ride home to ensure their safe commute to or through high-risk areas.”
Source: Right Rides
© 2008 Dulcinea Media, Inc.
