Could 'women-only' carriages reduce sexual assaults?

[whole diary]

[Chris from Nailsea]

From the BBC^» (British Broadcasting Corporation - home page):

Joy of India's women-only trains

India recently introduced eight women-only trains in Delhi, Mumbai (Bombay), Calcutta and Madras (Chennai). Aimed at providing safety and comfort for growing numbers of working women, the "Ladies' Specials" have proved a big hit with their passengers, as the BBC's Geeta Pandey discovered in Delhi.

What's striking about the new trains - not counting the exclusively female passengers - is the bright colours. The front of the engine is painted blue and red and the carriages are bright yellow. All eight coaches are interconnected and brightly lit. The cushioned seats are comfortable and ceiling fans make the journey pleasant on a humid evening.

The train I take from Delhi travels 60km (37 miles) to the small station in Palwal in nearby Haryana state. It leaves Palwal in the morning and returns in the evening, with Sunday a day off. My ticket costs 10 rupees (less than 20 US cents) and my fellow passengers are mostly office-goers and college students.

Among the passengers is Supriya Chatterjee who takes the train every evening as the time suits her. "In regular trains there's a lot of confusion," she says. "Most of the times we don't get a seat and have to travel standing. Also, there is no security on the train so there are cases of purse snatching. But such cases don't happen here. It's a joyride."

Sangeeta, a shy young woman who commutes daily from Faridabad to college in Delhi, says men often harass women on other trains. "They touch and pinch." She says travelling on the Ladies' Special makes her feel safe. "Here nobody passes lewd comments. Nobody teases us - it's great."

For many years, most suburban trains have had a couple of coaches reserved for women. But some men always forced their way into their compartments.

A few years ago, the authorities began a drive called "Bhairavi" - intended to penalise men travelling in ladies-only coaches - but it didn't work.

"Sometimes men board the ladies' compartment and when we ask them to leave or get aside, they start to argue. They say that if ladies can travel in gents' compartments they should be able to travel in ladies' compartments," Sangeeta says.

As the number of working women in India swelled over the past two decades, the two reserved coaches proved inadequate.
 
Sheila Sharma has been commuting by train for more than 25 years. She used to have to fight her way into the train and there would be lots of jostling. "This is a godsend. We've been waiting for something like this for so long. We fought for a long time and then we got two coaches for women in local trains. But it was not enough, there were so many women. We didn't find space to sit. We used to feel so tired standing during the journey. But now we sit comfortably and the travel is good."

The Ladies' Specials are the brainchild of Railways Minister Mamata Bannerji, who announced the service in this year's railway budget.

"Our minister was very concerned about the safety and comfort of working women in the cities," Northern Railways general manager Vivek Sahai says. "The women have ample space to sit comfortably so when they get home after a hard day's work, they can cook and look after their families."

Security is tight on the Ladies' Special. Five women constables and three male officers from the Railway Protection Force (RPF) patrol the aisles.

As the train halts at a station, assistant sub-inspector Prem Singh Varma steps down onto the platform to ensure men stay away. "We tell them very politely that 'sir, this is a ladies' train. Please stay away, don't board this train.' If they try again, I tell them, 'if you travel on this train, then what's the point of having a women's special train?'"
 
Mr Varma says most men comply. "But if anyone forces their way in, we take them to the police station and charge them with entering a ladies' train, and if they are ticketless then we charge them under that law too."

As the train halts at one of the stations en route, men waiting nearby do not seem too happy.

"Generally a man travels with his wife, or sister or daughter," said one disgruntled male passenger, Satya Pal. But since this is a Ladies' Special, he has to travel separately. "That's not practical. There should be some provision for men to travel on this train," Mr Pal said.

Inside the train, however, women are enjoying themselves.

I join a group of young women chatting and laughing. One woman shows off her shopping, another tears opens a packet of crisps which is shared with friends.

In India's traditionally male-dominated, conservative north, the absence of men is quite liberating for the young women.

Management student Charu Dua says she is happy that men have been banished from the train and that she can travel to college and back home without a care in the world. "We can laugh, we can sit where we want, we can do whatever we want, we feel free. We can sing a song, as loud as we want," she says.

[JayMac]

Imagine the furore if someone were to suggest 'gentleman only' trains here!!

[inspector_blakey]

Aren't they called heritage diesel charters...?  Having said that, I've always preferred the term "crank-ex".

[Phil]

I believe this says it all with regard to the "Ladies" of modern Britain:

Sad reflection of the times ... a woman ejected from 2Y12 at Nailsea this morning for unsocialble behaviour... 

[grahame]

The Week:
http://www.theweek.co.uk/uk-news/60933/could-women-only-trains-reduce-sexual-assaults

Transport minister Claire Perry has said she would be open to the possibility of introducing women-only train carriages to help reduce sexual assaults on public transport in the UK^▸ (United Kingdom).

Her comments were made after British Transport Police released figures showing a 21 per cent annual rise in sexual offences reported on trains.

I can recall ladies compartments on the 4SUB units from Beckenham Junction to Crystal Palace

Fine, if there are men only carriages too.

Would we require such trains to carry male and female managers, and revenue protection?

[John R]

Ah 4SUB's. Southern Discomfort as they were known. I wonder how passengers would compare them with current stock 30 years after their withdrawal.

[ChrisB]

You might want to alter thst subject line...a cosch on a train is very different to a whole train

[phile]

If "men only" trains were to be suggested, there would be a politically correct row from feminists groups.

[grahame]

You might want to alter thst subject line...a cosch on a train is very different to a whole train

I gave that consideration with my original post, but I went with the title quoting as "The Week" has it, which is:

Could women-only trains reduce sexual assaults?

The title that they chose doesn't really reflect the content of the article in my view, but then I'm an amateur and they're professional wordsmiths, and I defer to them 

[johoare]

Indeed.. Whilst they mention assaults they don't mention which gender is carrying these out...

[Oxonhutch]

India has, or had, female only carriages and compartments.  They then introduced a new bias by stating "Women Only" in 2^nd , 3^rd and 4^th class and "Reserved for Ladies" in 1^st.

BTW^▸ (by the way) I see that the traditional "Ladies' Waiting Room" has now become - at least in the Thames Valley - a second (or second half of) a Waiting Room with a "Ladies'".

There were instructions also, in the early British rule books, regarding staff allocating specific compartments for single female travellers.  I'll try and find, and post, the specific clauses ...

[TaplowGreen]

I think enough coaches/carriages to fit people in without being crushed should the priority, regardless of gender?

[Tim]

Men get assaulted too.  Might not be sexual assault, but they are certainly more likely to be physically assaulted.

Surely the solution is to improve security overall.  (gated platforms, visible staff (with provision for colleague or BTP^▸ (British Transport Police)  backup where needed)

[grahame]

Men get assaulted too.  Might not be sexual assault, but they are certainly more likely to be physically assaulted.

But unless that assault is by women, men only accommodation won't help.

This conversation has brought back a rather painful (more emotionally than physically) experience a couple of years again Liverpool.  I was working in an office set in the suburbs, and had arrived on the first morning by taxi ... taking the local bus to my hotel in the evening.  I left the offices through a staff gate in the high fence, and was walking through some quite modern housing - no more than a couple of hundred yards to the main road into the city, with the bus stops thereon.   Playing in the screen is a young girl - aged perhaps around 4 or 5 years - and as I walk past she asks "who are YOU - what are you doing here?" and I reply that I'm walking through to the bus stop.   She starts yelling "Stranger - danger" , walks up to me and starts kicking me in the shins ...

Improved security may be part of the solution ... having a bit more room on trains to stop people being jammed so tight may help ... but there are society issues too, and perhaps the issues aren't all that new (bearing in mind there were ladies only compartments in the pas), but just better publicised.

[TaplowGreen]

A 5 year old child playing unsupervised on the streets of Liverpool and assaulting an adult says more about her parents and background than anything else