How London is trying to make public transport safer for women

As passenger figures inch back towards pre-pandemic levels, a growing number of cities are re-examining how they can make public transport safer and more inclusive.

Reports of attacks and anti-social behaviour directed at staff and passengers have been on the rise globally over the past two decades, with an August 2022 study by the Mineta Transportation Institute finding the trend is “a relatively recent phenomenon”.

While developing cities, especially in South Asia, continue to account for the most serious attacks, countries with advanced economies are reporting a growing number of incidents.

Women in particular have reported feeling increasingly unsafe on public transport, and are more vulnerable than men to attacks and harassment of a sexual nature.

‘Zero tolerance’

To address the issue, cities have made changes to vehicles and station infrastructure, including the installation of brighter lighting, cameras and emergency buttons, and ensuring a visible presence of staff on services.

Others have gone further, seeking to call out offenders and get passengers involved in prevention efforts.

In October 2021, Transport for London (TfL) rolled out a “zero tolerance” campaign on sexual harassment.

The initiative, which included a poster campaign across the network and social media adverts, aimed to challenge harassment and send a clear message to offenders that it won’t be tolerated.

Last month the transit operator stepped up its efforts with a new initiative encouraging bystanders to be proactive and intervene if they witness sexual harassment on public transport.

“There’s a lot of research into bystander intervention and the role that it can have in de-escalating and preventing incidents before they actually occur,” said Mandy McGregor, Head of Policing and Community Safety, TfL.

“So what we’ve focused on is behaviour that is non-confrontational and ignores the harasser or the aggressor, and focuses on the victim.

“For example, a non-confrontational question about the time, or offering the person their seat – this can offer a distraction.

“It’s something in the moment that people can do to de-escalate and prevent something from happening.

“But they can also offer support afterwards if they don’t feel safe or confident to do so, such as checking in with the victim to make sure that they’re okay and letting them know what’s happened to them isn’t okay.

“And also then reporting that to police and TfL staff afterwards, because that information is really important to us, not only for an investigation of the offence itself, but also to inform our understanding of the problem and the prevention measures that we should be able to put in place to help deal with it.”

While overall levels of policing on public transport haven’t increased in London, there have been more targeted operations in certain areas.

TfL has also introduced a new team of transport enforcement officers, who are tasked with reducing anti-social behaviour.

McGregor stressed that the new campaign was not asking bystanders to ‘police’ the network or put themselves in dangerous situations, but rather encouraging intervention where possible.

Increased reporting

In research published last year by transport watchdog London TravelWatch, almost half of women said they had stopped travelling in London at certain times of the day due to concerns about personal safety.

In January, data from TfL revealed an eight percent increase in crime across the network when compared to pre-pandemic figures – despite 21 percent fewer passengers.

The figures also revealed an 81 percent year-on-year increase in sexual harassment of women and girls, though this has been attributed to higher reporting of incidents as a result of the campaign.

“We’ve seen an increase in reports which I take as a positive sign that women feel more confident in coming forward to report these incidents,” said London’s Night Czar Amy Lamé, who is tasked with ensuring the UK capital thrives as a ’24-hour city’.

“I think in the past, we didn’t really have an accurate picture because we didn’t feel confident about being heard or understood or believed, but the tide has changed.

“We know that people need more support and knowledge as to how to help in the moment.

“Research has found that 63 percent of people feel more confident in responding to a crime if they have more information about how to help, so this is about nipping things in the bud before they escalate.”

Women-only carriages?

Other more radical ideas have previously been suggested to stem the problem.

In 2015, the former leader of the UK’s Labour Party Jeremy Corbyn, who has served as an MP in north London since 1983, said he would consider the introduction of women-only carriages on public transport to help reduce harassment.

“It is unacceptable that many women and girls adapt their daily lives in order to avoid being harassed on the street, public transport, and in other public places from the park to the supermarket,” Corbyn said at the time.

“This could include taking longer routes to work, having self-imposed curfews or avoiding certain means of transport.”

The idea received strong pushback from many but the debate about women-only carriages has been periodically reignited.

Such carriages are common in several countries, though, including India, Iran, Japan and Egypt, where a number of high profile incidents involving sexual violence against women have occurred.

A 2014 poll by Reuters asked 6,300 women around the globe whether they would feel safer travelling in a single-sex carriage.

The survey, which covered 15 of the world’s largest capitals and New York – the most populous city in the United States – found 70 percent of women said they would feel safer.

Manila in the Philippines was the city where women were most in favour of single-sex transport, backed by 94 percent of women, followed by Jakarta in Indonesia, Mexico City and Delhi in India.

Women in New York saw the least need for such a move, with only 35 percent in support, followed by women in Moscow, London and Paris.

The concept has also drawn criticism, with some saying such carriages are a step backwards and send the wrong message.

“I would absolutely not support that – men need to change their behaviour,” Lamé said.

“Women have gone on for too long changing their behaviour to avoid situations where men are harassing them.”

This view was echoed by McGregor.

“It’s not something that we support, we don’t think that women should have to change their behaviour as a prevention measure for sexual harassment.

“We see that as a backwards move for society and our focus is on dealing with the offenders.”