Women-only passenger car

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Sign on platform indicating boarding point for women only cars

Women-only passenger cars are railway or subway cars intended for women only. They are offered on some trains in Japan, Egypt, India, Iran, Taiwan, Brazil, Mexico, Indonesia, the Philippines and Dubai,[1] while passengers in some other countries have demanded their introduction.

Japan

Passengers waiting to board a women-only car on Keiō Line, at Shinjuku Station, Tokyo

In Japan, women-only cars were introduced to combat lewd conduct, particularly groping (chikan). An exemption is made for men with disabilities, who may ride any passenger car.[2]

Women-only policies vary from company to company; some are effective during rush hour, others throughout the day, while some limit women-only cars to rapid service trains, as they tend to be more crowded and have relatively longer distances between stops. But in general, the policy is effective only on weekdays, excluding holidays. Platforms and train doors are marked with signs indicating boarding areas for the cars, and the days and times when the cars are women-only. Though intended to be exclusive to women, most train operators in Japan allow male elementary school pupils, disabled persons, and their assistants to board women-only cars.[3][4]

Groping in crowded commuter trains has been a problem in Japan; according to a survey conducted by Tokyo Metropolitan Police and East Japan Railway Company, two-thirds of female passengers in their twenties and thirties reported that they had been groped on trains, and the majority had been victimized frequently. Authorities have been unable to control groping activities, as trains are too crowded to identify the perpetrators, courts have traditionally been lenient, and victims are too often ashamed to come forward.[5] The police and railway companies responded with poster campaigns to raise awareness and tougher sentences, but have been unable to reverse the trend.[6] In 2004, the Tokyo police reported a threefold increase in reported cases of groping on public transportation over eight years.[7]

Women-only cars had been in operation in Japan as early as 1912 on the present day Chuo Main Line. The cars, known as Hana-Densha (花電車, lit. "flower train"), were introduced to prevent female students, who attended the many all-girls schools along the line, from having their "beautiful figures looked at and enjoyed" by their male counterparts.[8] Cars reserved for female school students also ran in Osaka in the 1950s, but that and the "flower train" were discontinued in 1973.[9]

In December 2000, Keio Electric Railway, which operates train between Tokyo and its suburbs, offered women-only cars during late night on a trial basis, in response to complaints about groping by drunk men during the bōnenkai party season.[9] Keio began running trains with late-night women-only cars on a full-time basis in March 2001.[10]

In July 2001, JR East began a similar service on Saikyo Line, which connects Tokyo with Saitama Prefecture and had become notorious for gropers because of crowding and longer distances between stops.[11][12] The following year, the service was extended to evening rush hour.

Sign next to door of coach

In July 2002, JR West became the third company in Japan to start running trains with women-only cars, and the JR West trains in Osaka became the first to offer women-only cars during morning rush hour.[13] The same year, two more Osaka-area railways, Hankyu Railway and Keihan Railway, added women-only cars to their limited express trains, and Hankyu became the first company to run women-only cars all day long.[6] Other Osaka-area companies followed suit, including Osaka Municipal Subway, whose Midosuji Line, which carries passengers at as much as 160 percent capacity, had a reputation for having the worst groping problem in all of Japan.[14]

Tokyo-area companies resisted the change because of logistical difficulties and fear of overcrowding in mixed-gender cars, but in 2005, they introduced women-only cars during rush hour, after awareness campaigns and tougher sentencing proved ineffective.[7][12]

Women-only cars have received positive reaction from some men and some women. Women cited safety from gropers, as well as not having to tolerate various smells.[15] Men cited not having to worry about false accusation of being a groper.[16]

However, passengers complained about further overcrowding in mixed cars, and feared that women who ride mixed cars would be putting themselves at more risk than before.[7]

Visually-impaired men have been reported to be facing embarrassing experiences with these cars, unknowingly entering a car and being warned by other passengers. Most train companies in fact allow men with disabilities to ride women-only cars.[2]

Critics claim the practice to be sexism and stigmatization based on gender. According to data,[citation needed] this practice does not lower the number of groping incidents. However, no train company has ever enforced the gender exclusion rule, allowing any male passenger who object to board women-only cars.

India

A women-only carriage in India
Main article: Eve teasing

Eve teasing is a euphemism used in India[17] for public sexual harassment, or molestation of women by men, with Eve being a reference to the biblical Eve.[18] In Mumbai, Ladies Special trains have been introduced to allow women working and studying in the city to travel without the fear of Eve-teasing, for the length of the journey at least. With the number of women needing to travel doubling since 1995, there is a very strong demand for these kinds of services.[19]

Indonesia

An Indonesian railway company, PT Kereta Api, introduced women-only carriages on some KRL Jabotabek commuter trains in the Jakarta metropolitan area from August 2010 in response to many reports of sexual harassment in public places, including commuter trains and buses. [20]

The women-only carriages on commuter trains are usually denoted by large pink stickers, which read "Kereta Khusus Wanita", and are located at each end of the train. This kind of carriage was previously only able to be found on air-conditioned EMUs, but a number of recently repaired non-air conditioned EMUs have also been equipped with the women-only carriage stickers.

  • A women-only car at the front of a KRL Jabotabek commuter train in the Jakarta area, November 2011
    A women-only car at the front of a KRL Jabotabek commuter train in the Jakarta area, November 2011
  • Interior view of a women-only car on a KRL Jabotabek commuter train in the Jakarta area, November 2011
    Interior view of a women-only car on a KRL Jabotabek commuter train in the Jakarta area, November 2011

Israel

In Israel, the bus company Egged provides a service where part of the bus is reserved for women only. This bus service was started at the request of Haredi women, because of religious sensitivities as to not be the center of attention. Men also desire the service, as it helps men, who are forbidden by Jewish law to gaze at a woman's body to admire their beauty (even covered) that is not one's own wife [21], from stumbling. The Haredi public was forbidden from opening a private bus line for fear that it would take away customers from the Egged monopoly.[citation needed]

The right of religious women to sit separately has come under attack by the secular media.[22]

Taiwan

United Kingdom

No longer provided, the last "Ladies Only" accommodation in British trains was withdrawn in 1977, a combination of different train types being introduced and equality legislation which prevented gender-specific provisions.

On the old type of local trains, no longer operating, individual compartments of the traditional type were right across the carriage (typically 9 or so per vehicle), with no through gangway, bench seats for 5 or on each side, and access only through many individual side doors. Because of concerns from individual women passengers who might be left with men in the compartment as passengers alighted, a few compartments (typically the end one in each train unit) was so allocated. At a time when No Smoking compartments were denoted by red window labels, and First Class by blue labels, the Ladies Only compartments were shown by green window labels.

See also

References

  1. ^ "Dubai Metro". Retrieved 2008-09-16.
  2. ^ a b "Visually-impaired want railways to clarify stance on riding in women-only carriages". Mainichi Shimbun. 2007-04-05.[dead link]
  3. ^ Osaka Prefectural Police: "女性専用車両導入路線一覧表" (20 June 2008) [dead link]. Retrieved on 1 July 2009. Template:Ja icon
  4. ^ JR East: "女性専用車のご利用について"[dead link] Retrieved on 1 July 2009. Template:Ja icon
  5. ^ Lewis, Leo (2004-11-24). "All-women trains are only way to defeat Tokyo bottom pinchers". London: The Times.
  6. ^ a b "Japan - Country Reports on Human Rights Practices - 2002". US Department of State. 2003-03-31.
  7. ^ a b c Joyce, Colin (2004-11-24). "Persistent gropers force Japan to introduce women-only carriages". The Daily Telegraph.[dead link]
  8. ^ Freedman, Alisa (2002). "Commuting gazes: Schoolgirls, salarymen, and electric trains in Tokyo". The Journal of Transportation History. 23 (1): 23–36. ISSN 0022-5266. {{cite journal}}: Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
  9. ^ a b "Tokyo trains tackle groping problem". BBC. 2000-12-05. Retrieved 2009-12-31.
  10. ^ "Annual Report 2001" (PDF). Keio Electric Railway Co., Ltd.[dead link]
  11. ^ "Guys locked out as services suck up to gals". Mainichi Daily News. 2001-07-21.[dead link]
  12. ^ a b "Lechers give Saikyo Line worst rap for Tokyo trains". International Herald Tribune/Asahi Shimbun. 2005-02-09.
  13. ^ "JR West begins women-only cars in Osaka". Japan Today. 2002-07-02.[dead link]
  14. ^ "Women-only carriages prove no haven from hostilities". Mainichi Daily News. 2002-11-07.[dead link]
  15. ^ Doi, Emi (2005-05-30). "Women-Only Cars on Commuter Trains Cause Controversy in Japan". Knight Ridder.[dead link]
  16. ^ "Japan Tries Women-Only Train Cars to Stop Groping". ABC News. 2005-06-10.
  17. ^ Here It is called eve-teasing Woman, Body, Desire in Post-colonial India: Narratives of Gender and Sexuality, by Jyoti Puri. Published by Routledge, 1999. ISBN 0-415-92128-7. Page 87.
  18. ^ Eve-Teasing The Official Dictionary of Unofficial English, by Grant Barrett. Published by McGraw-Hill Professional, 2006. ISBN 0-07-145804-2. Page 109.
  19. ^ Mumbai's Ladies Special train leaves the commuter sex pests behind, Helen Alexander and Rhys Blakel, Times Online UK, 14-Oct-2009
  20. ^ Indonesia Railway Company Launches Women-Only Carriages
  21. ^ RAMBAM Hilchos Kriyas Shema
  22. ^ Haredi Public Requests Private Bus Line

External links

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