Would You Prefer Single-Gender Buses and Trains?
We're always interested in new ideas and policies playing out in other major cities around the world, and this morning The New York Times reports on a fascinating experiment in public transit planning going on in Mexico City. Buses and trains in that other Distrito Federal are apparently awash in frotteurs, and complaints by women of incessant random groping and rubbing on the city's public transit system have led to the establishment of women-only buses.
Now, D.C.'s Metro system has certainly seen its fair share of groping, but it's nothing at the level of what goes on in Mexico City. Still, we can't help wondering whether some women in Washington wouldn't mind having the option of a single-sex bus, or maybe just a single rail car on 8-car trains during crowded rush hours, to avoid having to deal with potential frottage. What say you, ladies?
Over at The Nation, Feminsiting blogger Jessica Valenti thinks the Mexico City policy has some serious problems:
I'm pro-breathing space, but I have larger concerns as well. What happens when a woman is groped - or worse - in a train car that isn't women-only? Will she be blamed for not taking advantage of the "safe" space provided? (After all, women are all too used to being blamed when it comes to assault, questioned as to why they were out on their own/wearing a short skirt/drinking.)Good point, not to mention the question of whether gender segregation helps or merely perpetuates a culture of sexual harassment being seen as normal.
And by no means to make light of the topic of sexual assault, but we would of course be remiss in publishing something about frottage without linking to the seminal work on the subject.
Photo by digital_don