In a crowded subway, physical contact is sometimes inevitable. Female commuters have long complained that some men take advantage of crowded carriages to cop a quick feel. Women-only carriages come into being. However, it also creates a split opinion: is it protection or sexism.
By Yunjia Wang
The New York Times and the Global Times both published articles this month about women-only carriages in Shenzhen, China. Physiologically, the move seems understandable, but others claim the policy is a gender discrimination for men.
As far as is known, "Ladies Only" compartments had been in place for a century since the Victorian era, were abolished on British trains in 1977, two years after the UK Parliament passed the Sex Discrimination Act. Jeremy Corbyn, the Labor Party leader, had to cancel his proposal to restore women-only carriages in 2015 because of a massive public uproar.
According to a nonprofit website Metrobits, which analyzes global urban transport systems, Shenzhen has the world's fourth busiest subway system, after Shanghai, Beijing and London.
Londoners, who frequently use the subway, have different views of women-only carriages.
An old man waiting for his daughter at the railway station told that “Women-only carriage is a very good thing. It is safer for my daughter(women).” And he didn’t think it is a gender discrimination.
“It’s not about just being safe for women. I think it’s about everybody feeling safe, no matter men or women.” A young man coming out of the subway station said, “If says it’s gender discrimination for men, yes I agree.”
Another man born in London, with parents born in Africa and some family members living in India (India has a women-only car) said“Maybe. If they feel safer, why not?” in response to the question about "is it safer for women's carriages". However, he also explained, “Not all of the men are like that (perpetrators of sexual harassment). But there are some men who do this kind of thing. To stop them to do those kinds of things, maybe it’s a good idea.”
A lady said that she had experienced sexual harassment. For women-only carriages, she said, “I’ve seen it in India. It can be a good idea but not solving the problem. Actually, it is a gender discrimination for women. We have to keep ourselves away from men to keep safe. It means we cannot trust our society is strong enough to have men and women together.”
If women-only carriage can make women have a sense of security, that must be a positive move? Internationally, some cities have a necessity to set up women-only carriage. For example, Cairo and Tehran are Islamic cities. Religious customs require gender segregation. Tokyo, Osaka, Nagoya, Seoul and other cities have relatively few female passengers in traffic. And sexual harassment and other security problems in these cities are more prominent. However, in most other places, this might be not a good idea. The policy may be well-intentioned, but it will hardly lead to an end to sexual harassment.
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