KUALA LUMPUR: The move to designate women-only coaches on various public transport services are merely low-hanging fruits when it comes to combating sexual harassment.
Instead, women's groups say effective reporting mechanisms were needed for people to lodge complaints about sexual harrassment.
Penang Women's Centre for Change (WCC) programme director Karen Lai said gender segregation should not be the default response when addressing sexual harassment in public transportation because it will not foster behavioural change.
"We need to be more critical in our approach. Telling women to only go into ladies coaches is kind of like herding sheep into a pen for their own safety," she told the New Straits Times.
Although it is laudable for the government to take such steps, she said ultimately, the focus should be on targeting and deterring offenders, which is more effective in preventing harassment.
She said based on her observation, the risk of being caught for harassment served as a more potent deterrent.
She suggested for the government to a quick and efficient reporting mechanism like in Ecuador.
Lai said in its capital, Quito, commuters can report sexual harassment on a bus service by sending a text messages to the relevant party. The complaint via text message will alert authorities and the bus driver, which then triggers an anti-harassment announcement on the bus.
She said this is a different approach as compared to gender-segregated services, where accountability is focused on the wrongful behaviour of the harasser.
"If the public can quickly report incidents of harassment and the perpetrator can be easily apprehended by the law, then such lewd behaviour would be avoided, knowing that they cannot just get away with it," Lai said.
A video of male passengers occupying the women-only space at the recently introduced ladies coach at the MRT Kajang line has recently made its rounds on social media platform, TikTok.
The coach designated only for women was introduced by RapidKL on the Kajang MRT line on Sept 18. KTM Komuter also has ladies-only coaches which were introduced on April 28, 2010 in the interest of its women passengers, which makes up 60 per cent of its ridership.
Addressing comments from netizens who also claimed that ladies coaches were usually empty as compared to mixed coaches, particularly during off-peak houses, she explained there are various reasons for women not to make use of them.
She said some female commuters are in a rush during peak hours so they will take any coach on the first train that arrives at a station.
"Or, they could be travelling with male companions, so they need to take the mixed coach. It might be too hard for them to squeeze through a coach which is packed like sardines during peak hours before reaching the ladies' coach," she said.
Citing examples of Tokyo and Jakarta, Lai proposed the government to regularly monitor if our ladies coaches on public transport are being fully utilised efficiently.
She said in the end, authorities must determine if gender-segregation on public transport remains a priority if enforcement against sexual harassment remains lackadaisical.
She said if they found that ladies coaches remain empty or male commuters often occupied them in these next six months to a year , there is a need to do a stocktake and to rethink whether the move was serving its purpose.
"If it is not working, could these coaches be used for better purposes?
"Three rail operators introduced women-only carriages in Tokyo in 2000. Yet 35.9 per cent of the women surveyed never used these carriages, and only less than 20 per cent used them regularly."
A state-owned railway operator in Jakarta had also withdrew its female-only carriages after they were introduced in 2010.
The dedicated cars were claimed to be "largely empty," while the mixed spaces were crowded, she said.
Lai also urged the government to engage with more women groups when planning to do such approaches such as gender segregation in public transport because will allow for better-informed decisions to enhance women's safety on public transport.
All Women's Action Society (AWAM) senior programme manager Lilian Kok urged the government to take an integrated approach in addressing the root problem of gender insensitivity.
The issue of male commuters occupying women-only coaches appears to be leaning towards a lack of civil consciousness. she said.
"The deeper challenge lies in changing societal norms and attitudes."
Kok said efforts should be directed towards not only educating the public, but actively challenging and transforming cultural beliefs that perpetuate a disregard for women's safety and comfort on public transportation.
"This requires a sustained, multi-pronged approach including education, advocacy, and cultural sensitivity programmes to foster a more respectful and equitable environment for all passengers," said Kok.