Ladies Only Transit Cars, Really?
A tattered green sign in the window of a historic rail carriage reads “Ladies Only.” It represents a lengthy period of voluntary gender segregation on British rail systems, from the 1840s through 1977. The idea of providing safe havens for women travellers comes up repeatedly in Britain and is very much in place in many other countries.
As recently as 2015 then Labour leadership contender Jeremy Corbyn announced that he would look into reintroducing ladies-only rail cars to the British railway system, although this did not pan out. The National Railway Museum in York includes several vintage rail carriages with these signs. Currently, the Scottish transport secretary, Jenny Gilruth, is considering it. She reports that she often feels unsafe on trains because they’re “full of drunk men.”
Many other countries deploy voluntary ladies-only rail cars. These include Japan, Iran, United Arab Emerites, Egypt, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Phillipines, Mexico and Brazil, at least on certain lines and during peak travel periods. This is intended to eliminate lewd conduct and indecent assault, particularly groping, a behavior known in Japan as chikan. Of course, many of these rail systems are notorious for severe overcrowding such that it is sometimes impossible to determine whose hand, arm or butt is the offending body part.
Critics note that while there is nothing intrinsically alarming about female-assigned rail or tube cars, they fiercely take issue with the underlying premises for such a need. I am particularly impressed by the apparent historical consistency of the problem, and that we find it not just in female-segregated cultures, but most everywhere.
Journalist Mary Wakefield of The Spectator comments, “I never thought I’d write a defence of pissed blokes on trains, but I don’t think they make women unsafe.” She explains:
“Even if drunk men make you uncomfortable, that’s not reason enough. There are a great many uncomfortable things about any busy train. Discomfort is part of the deal.”
Okay, but general discomfort is one thing, groping is another. The latter is illegal in most jurisdictions and an affront to women’s bodily autonomy. What are the underlying assumptions at work here?
Are we to assume that some men simply can’t help themselves? That when placed in physical proximity to a woman, they cannot control the urge to reach out and grab her? Reports from Japan indicate that men often try to hide what they are doing by looking away or pretending disinterest. I am sure this matters not at all to the women who are the objects of such unwanted touching.
So what is it then? Allowing for the difficulty of confronting this issue across so many disparate cultures, there is still something obviously going on with men. It is probably best to admit that I am an American male visiting England for a couple of weeks. Just a few days ago my partner and I rode a crowded train from Manchester airport to York, about a two hour ride, and as far as I noticed there was no groping. In fact, it really was not terribly difficult to keep my hands to myself.
Didn’t we all learn this in, what? Preschool? Yes, I know, we were children then, and now we are adult men and women. And yes I will admit that men have sexual urges and thoughts that are pretty much hard-wired. Externally, we may observe that men’s eyes tend to wander, and that, depending on one’s preference, female and male bodies are the objects of those wandering eyes. The same may be said for women of course, only they are far more cautious about allowing their eyes to wander.
Even if a person is not sexually stimulated, people are just interesting to watch. I believe this is something on which we can all agree. Our human diversity is intriguing to most folks, and many people will take great care to find the best bench or seat from which to observe the flow of humanity in all of its spectacular variations. Again, there is nothing wrong with this.
But let’s be plain here. Groping is a kind of sexual assault, similar in many respects to other forms of sexual harrassment and assault. Rape of course is more severe, but still another type of sexual assault. Men who grope women in the confined spaces of a rail car are committing a crime, and also grossly violating the bodily autonomy of the women victims. These men are objectifying the targeted women in the most crude sort of way.
Women-only transit cars were tried in New York City in 1909 and again briefly in 1958. Neither lasted, and the practice has not turned up elsewhere in the U.S.
In contrast, in Japan, according to Wikipedia and other sources, reported cases during the period 2005 and 2014 ranged from 283 to 497 each year, and women recognize that these government-reported incidents are widely under-reported. In Tokyo alone in 2004, there were a record 2201 reported sexual crimes in public spaces, including groping and the taking of obscene (mostly “upskirt”) photographs of women and girls. Some of the earliest women-only train cars appeared in Japan in 1912, and these “Flower Trains” or similar versions are now in general use on most Tokyo trains and on many of the regional rail systems.
In Mexico City, women-only buses were implemented in 2008. The Mexico City Metro has women-only cars. Mexico City also has women-only taxis and buses called the "pink line.” India’s rail system operates “Ladies Specials” where entire trains running during peak hours in major cities are for women only. Similarly, most of the regional train lines offer women-only carriages.
After numerous reports of sexual harrassment on trains and other public places, Indonesia in 2010 introduced women-only carriages on metro Jakarta commuter trains and many regional lines as well. Similarly, Malaysia introduced women-only rail carriages in 2010 after numerous reports of sexual harrassment. In addition, women-only buses have operated in Kuala Lumpur since 2010, and in 2011, the government launched a women-only taxi service in the greater Kuala Lumpur area. Women drivers operate the taxis on an on-call basis.
Phillipines introduced special cars on several commuter rail lines for the elderly, pregnant women, people with disabilities, and adults with infants or children. In 2002, this service was expanded to include all women. In a short-lived experiment, Taiwan introduced women-only cars on certain commuter lines but then re-converted the cars after just three months and an overall lack of interest. In a similar fashion, Germany introduced women-only train cars on one commuter line in 2016, but the experiment encountered significant criticism as a “backward solution,” and the service was withdrawn.
So aside from the obvious insult, what is communicated when a man reaches out and gropes a woman passenger standing in a crowded rail car? Disrespect, certainly, but also perhaps power and disdain? I suspect that many men were not raised to view women as equals, and instead perceive them as sexual objects or toys. Or the men view the women passengers as intruding in public spaces formerly the exclusive domains of men. In this respect, the groping may be a form of subdued aggression.
Conversely, we should ask about the messages perceived by the women victimized in this manner. I believe they feel disrespected, angry, and possibly fearful. But also disregarded, the human person attached to their sexualized forms discarded by the man doing the groping. If I were in their shoes, I believe I would feel truly pissed-off to use one of the gentler American colloquial phrases.
While we do not know how many men are involved in these groping incidents, or the reactions of other men who may quietly witness this activity, I will suggest this may be a subtle form of male solidarity. “Look what we can get away with!” may seem a bit childish, but not any more childish than grabbing a woman’s butt on a moving train!
This is similar to the much-maligned men’s locker room banter. Yes, it is crude and funny, or disgusting depending on your point of view, but it is also an expression of gender or team solidarity. It is “men being men,” guys building up each other at the expense of childishly hyper-sexualized women. This is reinforcing the clan by beating-up on the other guys, or in this case, gals. This reflects an “us-versus-them” way of thinking which guys know is only acceptable in the men’s locker room or other men’s-only spaces. Fringe talk based on fringe beliefs.
Do we really need women-only rail cars? I will side with the many other folks who shrug their shoulders and, with some regret, recognize that there is nothing intrinsically wrong with female-assigned rail cars. This appears to be a small concession that may greatly enhance the collective comfort of women travelers. But we know the problem is really the men. Without a doubt.
Following several years of the London Underground System considering re-introducing women-only cars, a report from Middlesex University for the Department of Transit said this would be a "retrograde step" that "could be thought of as insulting, patronising and shaming to both men and women.” Yea, yea, as the Brits like to say.
Without a doubt, the problem is men.
Vic Caldarola is the founder of the Shine a Light Men’s Project. He holds Masters degree in Psychological Services and a PhD in Communications Studies.
