The prevalence and nature of sexual harassment and assault against women and girls on public transport: an international review

Abstract

Structured AbstractPurpose: This paper reports on the findings from a study commissioned by the British Transport Police and the Department for Transport for England and Wales concerning sexual offences and harassment on public transport worldwide. Specifically, it aims to explore the prevalence of such behaviours, through a review of existing survey and interview data regarding women and girls' experiences.Design/methodology/approach: A Rapid Evidence Assessment (REA) was used, the function of which is to: search the literature as comprehensively as possible within given time constraints; collate descriptive outlines of the available evidence on a topic and critically appraise it; sift out studies of poor quality; and provide an overview of the evidence.2 Findings: It was found that prevalence rates range from 15 percent to 95 percent, with the UK having the lowest rates. Emerging economies had higher rates of harassment and assault, which may relate to differing cultural and gender norms, where public space is regarded as a male domain. Research limitations/implications:A REA is not a full systematic review, differing in the scope and depth of the searches and depending almost exclusively on electronic databases, not accompanied by searching journals by hand.Practical Implications:1. More research of high methodological rigour needs to be carried out on prevalence rates of sexual harassment and offending on public transport worldwide.2. The high prevalence rates found suggest the need for more work around the area of interventions to curtail offending in this setting.3. The findings suggest that emerging economies, in particular, need to do more to address the problem of sexual harassment and assault on public transport.4. More fundamentally, cultural norms around women's role in society need to be addressed and challenged.3

Examining women's perception of safety during waiting times at public transport terminals

“…Globally, almost on a daily basis women are subject to unwanted attention and sexual harassment when riding PT (Gekoski et al, 2017). As such, the focus of most studies on women's use of PT have been on their safety needs (Matthies et al, 2002;Delbosc and Currie, 2012).…”

Understanding young women’s experiences of gender inequality in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh through story circles

“…Eve teasing (street harassment) and sexual harassment have far-reaching consequences, including both short and long-term socio-emotional consequences and limited access to education for victims (Talboys et al, 2017). Participants' stories highlighted harassment experienced on public transportation, which other studies have found to be commonplace (Dhillon & Bakaya, 2014;Gekoski, Gray, Adler, & Horvath, 2017;Leach & Sitaram, 2007;Tripathi, Borrion, & Belur, 2017). Given the widespread familial and social prohibitions limiting young women's movement, harassment in public and on public transportation remains a significant barrier to young women's education and employment opportunities, as is seen elsewhere in developing countries (Porter et al, 2011).…”

Using heat maps to identify areas prone to violence against women in the public sphere

“…(c.f. Mazumder and Pokharel 2019;Gekoski et al 2017;Ceccato and Paz 2017;Natarajan et al 2017;Tripathi et al 2017;Chui and Ong 2008). A number of studies have also located the solutions to VAW on public transport in situational measures (c.f.…”