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Africa
Asia
Australia
Europe
North-America
South-America
WorldThis intervention refers to the training and implementation of female staff only to receive reports of sexual violence, assault, or harassment in the public transport environment. Victims of the above offences (mostly females) are generally reluctant to report such incidents, as they are often afraid or ashamed, or believe that there is no point in reporting. [1,4,6,7]
This sentiment is heightened when incidents are to be reported to males. Increasing the presence of female staff to deal with such incident reports is an important step in increasing the number of incidents reported, as female victims will be more likely to do so if they feel safe and comfortable, and feel that their reports will be seriously considered. [1]
Ensures female staff are trained to record reported incidents well in order to help passengers
Establishes a system to report incidents
Scalable to suit budget and need
As soon as implementation stops, the benefits stop
Not effective in parts of the transport system where the intervention is not physically present
To encourage female passengers to come forward and report incidents
To apprehend more offenders through reports of incidents
Female passengers might still feel ashamed of reporting incidents due to the stigma around sexual harassment, even if the staff are available.
Literature shows that the very high amount of unreported incidents is due to a negative perception of reporting by females. Females who have been victims of sexual harassment often don’t report incidents as they believe that reporting is useless or too complicated, or because they are fearful or feel like they won’t be taken seriously [1,4,6,7]. However, females prefer reporting incidents to female staff as opposed to male staff, as “they feel compromised talking about such things with unknown men” (Allen & Vanderschuren, 2016) [1,2]. Therefore, the presence of female staff is much more desirable for female passengers than for male staff. As there is a significant amount of literature to support this, confidence in these ratings is good.
Implementation of this intervention takes some time initially, as staff have to be trained. The benefits ensue after the training is finished and the trained staff are deployed. Benefits will continue to increase as passengers become more aware of the available staff. Unfortunately, if the intervention ends, so do the benefits. .
This intervention can be implemented at a station or suburb level.
This intervention takes a moderate amount of effort to implement, as it requires skilled personnel, and it takes time.
1. Allen, H. & Vanderschuren, M. 2016. Safe and Sound International Research on Women’s Personal Safety on Public Transport. FIA Foundation Research Series. 6:1–55. [2022, January 19].
2. Bhatt, A., Menon, R. & Khan, A. 2015. WOMEN’S SAFETY IN PUBLIC TRANSPORT A Pilot Initiative in Bhopal. The WRI Ross Center for Sustainable Cities Disclaimer. [2022, January 19].
4. Gekoski, A., Gray, J.M., Adler, J.R. & Horvath, M.A.H. 2017. The prevalence and nature of sexual harassment and assault against women and girls on public transport: an international review. V. 3. DOI: 10.1108/JCRPP-08-2016-0016.
5. Kearl, H. 2018. A National Study on Sexual Harassment and Assault. Virginia, United States.
6. Quinones, L.M. 2020. Sexual harassment in public transport in Bogotá. Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice. 139:54–69. DOI: 10.1016/j.tra.2020.06.018.
7. UNWOMEN. 2020. Safe cities and safe public spaces for women and girls global flagship initiative: International compendium of practices. 39. [2022, January 12].
