THURSDAY, March 28, 2024
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Survey shows women vulnerable to sexual crimes on public transport

Survey shows women vulnerable to sexual crimes on public transport

A SURVEY has revealed shocking findings – about 2 per cent of female public-transport passengers have been sexually assaulted or raped.

“Apart from this, many more have been subject to other forms of sexual harassment,” ActionAid Thailand’s policy manager Rungtip Imrungruang said yesterday.
She was referring to a survey conducted among 1,500 women in Bangkok and adjacent provinces in September and October last year.
Most respondents had lived in the greater Bangkok area for more than one decade and commute via buses, motorcycle taxis, taxis, the subway, the BTS, public-transport pick-ups or public vans.
Of the respondents, 26 per cent said they had faced verbal harassment. About 7 per cent said they had seen a man flashing his penis or engaging in masturbation, and 6 per cent said perverts had shown them pornographic clips or secretly took their pictures.
Rungtip said low-income women who had to travel at night via public-transport services were facing serious risks of being victims of sex crimes.
More than 30,000 rapes took place in 2009 and 2013, with almost 13 per cent of victims having lodged complaints with police.
The statistics were released yesterday on International Women’s Day.
Various events were held across the world to bring attention to the need to empower and protect women.
In Thailand’s deep South, a women’s group called for the end of violence against women, children and the general public.
Yingluck Shinawatra, Thailand’s first female prime minister, urged people to respect one another, solve gender inequality and oppose violence against women.

 

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