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UK: London Needs Anti-Harassment Posters

May 7, 2015 By Contributor

For many women, the streets are not ‘public’ spaces. Rather, they are places where our actions and clothes are judged by others, and our feelings of security are put into question. This often occurs in the form of sexual harassment or assault, an encounter which is intimidating, demeaning, invasive and frustrating. I would like to add here that I fully acknowledge that various forms of sexual harassment and assault are also suffered by men and transsexual people.

These experiences don’t stop when we step from the street onto London’s public transport and so I was relieved when I heard of an initiative called Project Guardian. As stated on its website, it is a ‘long-term project involving British Transport Police (BTP), Transport for London (TfL), Metropolitan Police and the City of London Police, which aims to reduce sexual assault and unwanted behaviour on public transport in London’. Apart from the name, which implies that women need to be protected rather than needing to be given a platform and the agency to strengthen and empower themselves, it is a wonderful and much needed project.

Given that Project Guardian has been running for nearly two years, when I excitedly mentioned it to friends of mine living in London I expected them to be aware of it, yet none of them were. I wondered if these responses represented a wider trend and so I created a survey in January 2015 asking Londoners of their knowledge of Project Guardian. The results were shocking: 84.3% of respondents using London transport ‘daily’ or ‘once or twice a week’ ‘have not heard of [Project Guardian] & don’t know what it is’ and 13.8% of respondents ‘have heard of it but don’t really know what it is’. Equally 72.8% did not know that ‘lewd comments or leering’ are reportable offences. Yet, when the initiative was explained almost all of the respondents were supportive of its aims and thought it to be a valuable and needed service.

My findings contrasted with an article in the Guardian from October 2013, written by Laura Bates, who’s illuminating Everyday Sexism project helped to advise the Project Guardian team. The article implied that the ‘20% increase in the reporting of sexual offences on the transport network’ was due to the launch of Project Guardian in April that year. However, I doubt the reliability of this claim because my findings show that very few Londoners have even heard of Project Guardian.

This trend is not surprising given that no posters advising passengers of what Project Guardian is and how to use it exist on the London transport network. I started to wonder why this was so, given the endless stream of TfL posters advertising other safety and security issues. I contacted TFL asking if there was a planned poster campaign, given that in September 2014 it was reported in the Londonist that Boris Johnson and Peter Hendry (Transport for London Commissioner) had said that such a campaign was planned. Their response was that ‘an integrated communications campaign is in development’. This came in April 2015 in the form of a social media based campaign called ‘Report It To Stop It’. On the launch day, BTP said that there are no plans for posters in the pipe line but ‘we have more than 300,000 handouts ready plus a big digital campaign to spread the word’.

Whilst a positive move by the Project Guardian team, this recent effort seems insufficient. Aside from the absence of a trigger warning on the rather graphic short film, it is also problematic as it is ‘aimed at women aged between 16 and 35’. I am campaigning for Project Guardian posters on the London Transport system because this way, a zero tolerance policy surrounding sexual harassment and assault will be clearly stated to all members of this public, including potential perpetrators. This would be more effective than a campaign only directed at potential victims. A short film and a few thousand leaflets can’t compete with the publicity generated by a widespread and permanent poster campaign.

Aside from the practical advantages of a poster campaign, I want to see Project Guardian given equal priority to combating other safety and security issues. There are currently 40 different poster campaigns on the transport network including those telling passengers ‘Please don’t play your music too loud’ and to be ‘Beware pickpocket’s tactics’. While these are valid safety & wellbeing concerns, it is outrageous that an issue so serious as sexual harassment and assault is not deemed worthy of a poster campaign. It’s ironic to note that TFL recently allowed the body-shaming adverts from Protein World on Tube platforms, but they don’t think Project Guardian posters are needed. This seems to echo the universal lack of recognition for women’s issues and the often contradictory messages surrounding them.

I did not start this campaign because I believe that law enforcement is the only, or most important, means of change. However, I believe that as a society we have normalised this form of violence against women and therefore posters informing the public that these are reportable offences are needed. Not only do the perpetrators need to know that this will not be tolerated, but those who have experienced sexual harassment or assault need to know that they will be listened to, taken seriously and supported in their responses by both police and surrounding members of the public. It needs to be clearly communicated that reportable offences include sexual touching, exposure, outraging public decency, lewd comments, leering and harassment, for which Project Guardian provides a specialist phone and text line through which to contact them.

Please help to support this campaign by following our Twitter page and tweeting us with your photos of TfL’s current posters and ask them why there aren’t any for #ProjGuardian.

Please tell friends and family about Project Guardian and keep your eyes out for the petition coming soon!

Matilda campaigns for women’s rights and against street harassment, founded Underreported Street Harassment and is a recent graduate from University of Leeds, UK. 

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Filed Under: Activist Interviews, public harassment Tagged With: London, PSAs, transportation

Anti-Harassment Petition: Please Mend the Gap

June 7, 2011 By HKearl

Harassment on public transportation is rampant. In Delhi, India, it’s no different. To address the harassment, many governments around the world have instituted women-only subway cars and buses (usually only during rush hour and without offering them often enough or in enough volume for all women to use them). The Delhi metro system is one example. The segregation is not working, however, and the harassment is as bad as ever. The Please Mend the Gap campaign is trying to change that.

Via an online petition site the organizers write:

“We believe that a majority of women do not feel safe while travelling in the Delhi Metro. We have spoken to a cross-section of Metro commuters who have shared with us their experiences most of which include instances of verbal and physical harassment mostly faced by women, specifically in the women’s-only compartment.

In fact, a few days ago, some of the members of our group who were traveling at night observed that the women’s-only compartment was populated with men who had occupied almost all the seats forcing the women to stand, leaving them with no choice but to actively demand the seats they were entitled to. The men were unapologetic and dismissive. Most shrugged off the women’s protest by claiming falsely that the women’s-only compartment turns general post 9 p.m..

Women who choose to travel in the general compartment are also harassed. There have been many instances where men have told women that they are not welcome in this compartment and should use the compartment reserved for them. This attitude has become so deeply entrenched in commuters’ mindsets that most accidentally refer to the general compartment as the ‘men’s compartment’. There have been times when authorities have driven out men from the women’s-only compartments, but without having imposed any fine whatsoever.”

Already, Please Mend the Gap activists spearheaded a flash mob on the metro to raise awareness about the issue. On June 1, they launched a petition with 10 demands for the transportation authorities to fulfill in order to make the system safer, and harassment free. The petition reads:

We the commuters on the Delhi Metro have the following suggestions to make to ensure a safer, friendlier and more respectable environment for women within the Metro premises.

1. Ensure regular announcement inside the Metro train and within the Metro stations stating categorically that, “Any person involved in, assisting in, or indulging in any activity that outrages a woman’s modesty, including but not limited to molesting and eve-teasing, will be punished with imprisonment and/or fine. The announcement should clearly state the Section 354 of the Indian Penal Code under which sexual harassment is a punishable crime.

2. Announcements like, “Men entering the women’s compartment will be fined Rs. 250,” should be made at regular intervals on the public announcement systems. Spot fines should be collected by DMRC Staff posted at the Metro Stations from men caught travelling in the women’s compartment.

3. Adequate training should be given to DMRC staff and CISF personnel stationed at platforms in handling of such cases with specific focus to sensitize the DMRC staff to handle victims with greater care and concern.

4. Every Metro Station should have at least one lady officer who is specially trained and equipped to handle such cases including registration of such offences, counseling the victim and the like.

5. The current system where one has to go to Kashmere Gate to file a FIR for cases related to the metro needs to be decentralized urgently. Every metro station should have a complaint cell conveniently and prominently located within the premises of the metro station and should be able to handle/register cases for the entire duration for which the metro runs daily, i.e. between 6 a.m. to 12 a.m. A system should also be evolved whereby the metro helpdesk/officials assist the victim in registering any case successfully.

6. Information Boards should be installed at every Metro station at strategic locations, such as near the ticketing counter, with detailed directions for lodging a complaint against an instance of harassment as well as emergency contact numbers of Delhi Metro officials, laws against molestation and other necessary information.

7. CCTVs must be installed inside the Metro compartments and information on how to procure CCTV footage, if and when required, should be made available to commuters at the earliest.

8. A section of the advertisement space available inside the Metro should be compulsorily reserved for displaying information relating to the legal assistance available to victims of molestation and harassment and remedies for the same.

9. The DMRC ought to provide details of helpline numbers and contact numbers/email addresses of important Metro authorities in the Metro Map Brochure and also inside the Metro train so that commuters are aware of the same and can contact the required persons in times of emergency. It has been brought to our notice by various commuters that some of the numbers are not functional. It is the prerogative of the authorities to ensure the helpline numbers are functional and are consistently monitored for efficiency and efficacy.

10. The DMRC ought to monitor, review and increase security arrangements and make authorities more accountable for lapses in security. It is our earnest request that our above demands be heard and implemented by the concerned authorities at the earliest. This will go a long way in ensuring that women feel safe commuting by the Delhi Metro and in fulfilling the DMRC’s mission of providing world-class service to the citizens of Delhi. This petition is drafted and supported by ‘PLEASE MEND THE GAP’, a citizen- led initiative to promote gender equality and commuter safety in public spaces.

Sign the petition and join their Facebook page for more updates on their campaign.

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Filed Under: News stories, public harassment, street harassment Tagged With: delhi, please mend the gap, public harassment, street harassment, transportation

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