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.