Sexual harassment common on local commuter trains

Sexual harassment common on local commuter trains

By Multa Fidrus

JAKARTA (JP): For those who have to jostle their way onto the
electric trains plying the Jakarta-Bogor-Tangerang-Bekasi route
to get to and from work every day, strange odors and the unusual
behavior of their fellow passengers have become commonplace.

Long-time passengers know better than to expect a comfortable
or pleasant trip. The number of passengers always exceeds the
capacity of the cars, leaving those without seats to fend off
vendors, street singers, beggars and pickpockets.

Passengers are forced to survive the daily obstacle course of
thieves and perverts, with seemingly no one to turn to with their
complaints.

"Forget about getting a seat, just having the opportunity to
stand comfortably during rush hour is rare," a woman told The
Jakarta Post as she boarded a train at the Depok railway station
last week.

Most women passengers are at one time or another subject to
some form of sexual harassment on the trains, from leers and
comments, to being groped and pressed against.

While some women may brush off these incidents as an
unpleasant part of life in the big, bad city, others are
traumatized by their experiences.

Yurike (not her real name), a mother of two from Bojong Gede,
Bogor, takes the train to work every day. She teaches at a
private university in Lenteng Agung, South Jakarta.

She said she was frequently subjected to harassment. "Almost
every day a man will try to press his body against me. But what
really disgusts me is when their hands brush against my breasts,"
she said.

"If I get angry, they just say 'if you don't want to get
touched, don't take the train,'" she said.

"As a lecturer, sometimes I have to wear a skirt to work. The
other day, I had trouble getting on the train at Bojong Gede
railway station because of my skirt. I asked a man to help me up
onto the train, and after he gave me a hand he sneeringly thanked
me. I realized he thanked me for touching my body," she said.

She also recounted being robbed on the train. Three men
crowded around her as the train neared Lenteng Agung railway
station. One of the men grabbed her necklace and the men jumped
off the train and fled. "Now I feel frightened whenever a man
comes near me on the train."

Anita (not her real name) tells a sadly similar story of
harassment. The employee of a private bank in Central Jakarta
said she had to wear a miniskirt to the office every day. "The
boss reprimands me whenever I don't wear a miniskirt."

During the trip from her home in Citayam, Bogor, to Cikini
railway station, she often shouts at men for trying to grope her.

"But my anger never gets a response. Nobody helps me. I even
become an object of curiosity for the passengers on the train. It
is really embarrassing," she said.

She said she has had numerous upsetting experiences on trains.
One morning a young man pressed against her in a crowded coach,
and a few seconds later she felt something wet on her skirt.

"I shouted hysterically, but everyone just looked at me. I was
really embarrassed."

She said this type of conduct was not restricted to men.
"Once, I saw a woman pressing her chest against a man on the
train."

Anita is upset that these types of incidents are accepted as
commonplace by most train passengers. Despite her experiences,
she suggests that women be assertive but polite when dealing with
men on the train.

"The men will feel awkward if they are met with a polite and
friendly attitude," she said.

Sugandi, 28, a janitor at a mall in South Jakarta, said with
no apparent shame that he used the opportunity provided by
crowded trains to sexually harass women.

"Where else can I enjoy those pretty women? Trains are the
right place," he told the Post.

He said he encountered pretty women on the train every day,
all with their own styles and looks. "I know I can only dream of
holding a pretty woman. It's impossible a beautiful woman would
ever look at me, but I can touch and even kiss them on trains."

Arief Rifky, a student at a private university in Depok, said
he felt disgusted whenever he saw men rubbing up against women on
the train.

"I want to do something to stop it, but I can't do anything.
The car is always packed with people, especially during rush
hour, so it's impossible to move. I think the best way to stop
this harassment is to provide special compartments for women," he
said.

The chairwoman of the Indonesian Women's Association for
Justice, Rita Serena Kolibonso, said sexual harassment was a
crime and women should report it to the police.

But she admitted most women were reluctant to go to the
police, so she suggested they immediately confront their
harassers.

"A woman must immediately berate the man who is trying to
harass her on the train, or these types of incidents will be seen
as common and lawful occurrences," she told the Post by phone.

"And the reaction should not come from just the victim, but
also from the other people on the train," she added.