A study made by London TravelWatch in 2021 revealed that 63% of women would feel more confident to react to a harassment situation with more knowledge about how to behave. In 2022, British Transport Police and operator Transport for London launched a campaign to help travelers recognize sexual harassment situations, and to know when and how to intervene as a witness. The idea? Disseminate simple instructions: create a diversion, document the situation, contact the person being harassed, offer help, etc.
Acting for women's safety on public transport
In France, eight out of ten women have already experienced at least one sexist or sexual attack on public transport. While mobility is an intrinsic part of everyone's rights, more than nine out of ten women say they adopt avoidance strategies out of fear, and 48% admit to having already changed the way they dress. Initiatives are being deployed all over the world to ensure women's safety on the move. Here's an overview of these concrete actions.
Keolis, a partner of the Women's Foundation, has set up programs and actions in all the areas in which it operates, with, for example, on-demand descent service on its bus networks in Amiens, Orléans and Senlis. How does it work? Get off between two stops. This service is active in the evenings, and helps to reassure passengers by sparing them long journeys by foot. Several Keolis networks in France are also organizing exploratory walks to identify ways of improving transport safety.
Despite numerous prevention and awareness-raising initiatives, harassment of women on public transport is still a reality, so it's vital to continue deploying immediate assistance and safe areas. More and more cities are choosing to use the "Ask Angela" system. In 2022, Keolis Bordeaux Métropole Mobilités was the first transport network in France to experiment with the system. Since then, the system has been widely deployed, enabling victims to make emergency calls from streetcar or station call points to the information desk. The system is now also available in Besançon and Lille.
