Transit
End sexual harassment on Metro
Unwanted sexual comments, indecent exposure, groping, and public masturbation: sexual harassment happens often on transit in DC. Local grassroots activist group Collective Action for Safe Spaces (CASS)/
Pascale Leone testifies to the DC Council about harassment.
Of the hundreds of stories of public sexual harassment submitted to their blog, 30% take place on the transit system or at Metro platforms or bus stops.
After unsuccessfully trying to meet with WMATA and not receiving responses to inquiries about statistics of sexual harassment, CASS board members, including myself, decided to organize a group of people to testify at yesterday's WMATA oversight hearing at the DC Council, chaired by Ward 4 Councilmember Muriel Bowser.
Six of us testified and we were the only members of the public who testified about anything relating to WMATA, so we had their attention and the attention of the media. After laying out the facts, sharing stories of harassment, and informing them about what transit systems in Boston, New York City and Chicago are doing to address sexual harassment that WMATA is not, we gave our recommendations.
- Better tracking and reporting of incidents
- A public service awareness campaign so people know what their rights are and how to report incidents
- Better training of Metro employees so they don't harass passengers and so they respond to reports of harassment more appropriately.
Councilmember Bowser was very receptive to these suggestions, especially the PSA campaign. WMATA CEO Richard Sarles said he would talk with his counterparts in the three cities that have PSA campaigns, to get advice on how to bring one to DC. Their responses were very encouraging, but of course we won't call it a success until we actually have a campaign.
Anti-harassment PSA in Chicago.
And there is still work to do around WMATA's responses to and treatment of harassment.
While WMATA keeps painting harassment as flirting in their statements to the press, we're not talking about flirting, and the testimonies illustrated what's really going on. Here are two examples.
Ami Lynch testified about a Metro bus driver who harassed her. After small talk about how tall she was, he launched into inappropriate territory by saying, "Hey baby, it doesn't matter that I'm not tall, because when we're lying down it's all the same anyway," and as he laughed he gestured from his crotch to her crotch. She said she was stunned, stepped off the bus, crossed the street, and began to cry. After she reported it, the Customer Relations Manager told her how the bus driver would never have said that and didn't have time to talk to customers on his route. The case was closed.
She said she no longer takes that bus and it has cost her nearly $1,000 in cab fares to commute to her weekly appointment for which she previously used the 10B bus.
Pascale Leone shared how the following happened to her when she left a Metro station: "In a flash, the young male in the white T-shirt came onto me saying derogatory things about my body and proceeded to
When she reported him to a nearby Metro employee, he said, "Oh him. He just grabbed that girl's butt" pointing at a woman going up the escalators. Then he laughed. She said the next day she read in the DCist and the Examiner that minutes before her assault, he had punched a woman in the back of her head and after he groped her, he grabbed a woman on K Street and tried to rape her until a group of passerby's heard her scream and held the suspect until the police arrived..
Metro says they are doing a good job addressing sexual crimes since there were only 84 reported "sexual offenses" last year. We disagree. We know that sexual crimes are vastly under-reported to begin with and then, when people do try to report it, how many of them are like Ami and Pascale? Instead of having their incident handled and recorded, they're met with laughter or disbelief and their incident is left off the record.
Additionally, after our testimonies, we were told by someone in from the transit police office, that unless verbal harassment is directly threatening, it is not recorded at all and is a matter of free speech. So none of the verbal sexual harassment that we know is so prevalent is tracked.
It's funny how unwanted sexual comments constitute sexual harassment in the workplace and schools, but, according to the police officer, they are free speech on the Metro system.
Clearly, our work is just beginning. We plan to bring a larger group to testify at the WMATA budget hearing in April and we likely will launch a petition or advocacy campaign in March, so stay tuned.
 | Holly Kearl is the founder of Stop Street Harassment and author of Stop Street Harassment: Making Public Places Safe and Welcoming for Women (Praeger, 2010).   |
Comments
- Bikeshare is a gateway to private biking, not competition
- Judge denies injunction against closing schools
- Long-term closures: A solution to single-tracking?
- Metro policy for refunds after delays falls short, riders say
- M Street cycle track keeps improving, draws church anger
- O'Malley announces first projects using new gas tax money
- Prince George's County struggles to get trails right
Metro has done such a great job of managing finances, indexing fares to inflation, and generally keeping the system in a state of repair that I fear that more responsibilities will only make our metro system worse, not better.
by Jim on Feb 23, 2012 3:02 pm • link • report
But regardless of that, this is a human rights issue and needs to be addressed. Writing it off as costing too much isn't fair to the 50% or more of Metro's riders who are being adversely affected by this. It's really unfair to dismiss it out of hand because of cost; there are LOTS of ways Metro is wasting money that could be changed to pay for this, or things that are lower priority, in my opinion.
by Joe on Feb 23, 2012 3:10 pm • link • report
Looks like that didn't pan out....
by Tim Krepp on Feb 23, 2012 3:10 pm • link • report
And I don't think it's unfair to factor in cost at all. Would I rather pay more to ride a metro system that has done some nice things to mitigate incidents of sexual harassment and is over budget and up to its eyeballs in liabilities, or would I rather pay to ride a metro system that got its fiscal house in order first, better enabling it to competently address the issue of sexual harassment?
I'd choose the latter. And of course there are more alternatives than just those two. I have no doubt that many women avoid the bus/train because of sexual harassment. This is bad. Many people avoid the metro because of its high costs, which are partly a result of historic mismanagement. Some women probably avoid it for both those reasons.
The best solution is to focus on the most cost efficient ways to improve metro, and get spending and fares ideally situated.
Just spending more on a nice idea like this doesn't necessarily make metro more ride able, especially if it requires new outlays on top of already pretty complicated financial situation.
We can spend all of the treasure in the mid-Atlantic to root out sexual harassment on metro. Put a cop on every bus, station, and platform. But that's unrealistic. At somepoint the trade offs will be too great. So asking what the costs are is not unfair, it's sensible. What's unfair is to demand change no matter the cost.
In short, we can end this behavior on metro, but it will have costs. What good do we do the women (and taxpayers) if the solution is a bad one, in that it makes riding metro more costly, and ridership declines?
by Jim on Feb 23, 2012 3:21 pm • link • report
by Cbishop on Feb 23, 2012 3:28 pm • link • report
But we can expect the Metro GM and Director of Communications to talk intelligently about this topic. That doesn't cost anything. We can expect them to communicate with these women, to return their calls, and to have a meeting.
If cost is an issue, Metro should explain why and explain what low cost measures they ARE taking.
Here's one low hanging fruit that costs nothing: next time DON'T say "It really isn't a big issue" and use WMATA's abjectly broken complaint system as your explanation for your statement. That would cost zero dollars and would demonstrate that as Director of Communications you have some idea how to communicate with the public.
by Tim Krepp on Feb 23, 2012 3:31 pm • link • report
How much would this cost? It shouldn't cost anything for people at the agency to upgrade their customer service to the bare minimum expectations. When someone reports harassment to a station manager or customer service, those Metro employees should assist the person in contacting the police.
I mean, a Metro employee harassed someone, and the customer service agent just dismisses it? That's ridiculous and should never happen.
by MLD on Feb 23, 2012 3:36 pm • link • report
@Tim That does cost nothing and you are right.
by Jim on Feb 23, 2012 3:36 pm • link • report
Do you assume that the unions are going to allow them to be paid the same amount for doing better work? Or allowing their members who suck to be fired?
by Jim on Feb 23, 2012 3:39 pm • link • report
by Jim on Feb 23, 2012 3:41 pm • link • report
Making Metro just as safe for me as it is for you isn't a "nice thing to do." Sexual harassment is a public safety issue. If Metro believed it to be such, there would be placards all over the trains about it, just like there are placards all over about getting your iPhone stolen if you sit near the doors. I can imagine no other instance in D.C. where public safety measures would be put aside as too costly.
by amysee on Feb 23, 2012 3:50 pm • link • report
I think metro needs to improve its safety across the board, including cutting down on sexual harassment. I see why you might think that in my second comment, but I don't think metro thinks that way. At all. If I thought metro was honestly trying to improve the system and reducing costs, I wouldn't have commented. They are not doing this.
To your comment about placards, I'm all for them. Creating them will have costs. Putting them in cars will take labor hours, and there are potential lost revenues if it means supplanting advertising that would have brought metro money. If it's a PSA swap, in that they take down iPod thievery PSAs, that obviously reduces costs and would be the best thing.
Better yet would be to rid the metro of the PSAs telling riders how much metro (read: riders and taxpayers) are paying to improve the system.
And I'm not saying nothing should be done, I just think the focus should be on effectiveness -- both in cost and outcome.
by Jim on Feb 23, 2012 3:56 pm • link • report
Schools and workplaces are not public, unlike the public transportation system. Is there evidence illegal sexual harassment is worse on the Metro than it is in other public places? If so, it seems like a public safety question best solved by the police.
I am all for Metro using its existing resources to combat the issue. There are some steps WMATA can take that will improve the situation without costing money. But, as with all public policy, expenditure of WMATA's funds should be structured within a cost-benefit framework.
If you want a PSA campaign, raise money for it yourself. Otherwise, that is advertising money desperately needed elsewhere.
by WRD on Feb 23, 2012 3:58 pm • link • report
I understand the discussion about cost, and while we need to get an accurate estimate of how much public awareness campaigns cost, such as the ones Holly mentions, I believe it could be just in the tens of thousands. This is nothing compared to what Metro's overall budget is. Council Member Bowser also said that some PSAs could be done at very low cost.
Both CM Bowser and Sarles noted that this testimony was deeply disturbing. Bowser pledged to do something about it. But Metro really needs to say something like: "We're deeply sorry. We will take all of your suggestions into serious consideration and we will do what we can to correct this." We have not exactly heard that from them yet.
They also need to apologize for Dan Stessel's greatly misinformed comments from the Channel 9 piece which Holly linked to, which stated that this was not a big issue and that confused harassment with flirting.
These comments prove that Metro does not understand this issue and that the solutions that Holly mentioned above must be done with community involvement in order to be effective.
by Ben Merrion on Feb 23, 2012 4:16 pm • link • report
by Tina on Feb 23, 2012 4:24 pm • link • report
Almost every woman I know, including myself, has been a victim of sexual harassment in this city. The vast majority do not report it or stand up for themselves, for obvious reasons. Not only will the complaint not be taken seriously, there's also a good chance we'll be accused of not being able to take a compliment - an attitude being perpetuated by the sound bites from WMATA and other media coverage on this issue, especially the news article linked to above.
by Rebecca on Feb 23, 2012 4:33 pm • link • report
by charlie on Feb 23, 2012 4:40 pm • link • report
Does DC/MD/VA have a "good Samaritan" law? One in which bystanders are required to help persons in need? (Remember that story from a few years ago about the homeless man who lay dieing on the sidewalk while dozens of people walked past w/o calling 911?)
by Tina on Feb 23, 2012 4:44 pm • link • report
by Phil on Feb 23, 2012 4:44 pm • link • report
by Tina on Feb 23, 2012 4:46 pm • link • report
by Tina on Feb 23, 2012 4:47 pm • link • report
How does this excuse the Metro employees who are harassing people?
by Phil on Feb 23, 2012 4:47 pm • link • report
But I can't imagine that Metro can't do some sort of public service campaign to bring awareness to the issue in the same way they have for security and other issues.
I also think that comparing workplace harassment and "public spaces" harrassment is a bit of a stretch. They really aren't the same and the protections offered are understandably at different levels.
WOW@The idea of a dude literally fondling a woman's breast/cheeks and simply walking away. WOW WOW WOW! Hogtying him to the tracks while completely bareskinned seems appropriate.
by HogWash on Feb 23, 2012 5:16 pm • link • report
And is anyone else floored that the Post has yet to report on Stessel's dismissive attitude and comments? Hard to believe they would let a public official in DC take this kind of offensively cavalier position without shining some light on it.
by Arl Fan on Feb 23, 2012 5:30 pm • link • report
It also speaks to why employees at WMATA might mistakenly believe harassing women is okay. How can it be problematic if they aren't required to report it? How can it be problematic if it is dismissed as flirting by WMATA spokesmen? It is problematic, and it does need to be stopped.
Keeping track of additional statistics won’t cost that much and is an easy first step to take. And those statistics can help. They will give advocates a number to use, put WMATA workers on notice that sexual harassing riders is verboten and allow WMATA to provide better service to a large portion of its riders.
by Kinney on Feb 23, 2012 5:32 pm • link • report
One easy measure would be to immediately and permanently revoke any sort of transit subsidy being received by anyone who is found to be sexually harassing another passenger. I suspect that many of the perpetrators are high school students, and many of those have transit subsidies for getting to and from school. As a general policy, Metro should have a zero tolerance policy for bad behavior by students who are receiving transit subsidies, and sexual harassment in particular should result in a permanent revocation of transit assistance.
It also should not be difficult for Metro police to catch and prosecute repeat offenders. If someone is reporting that a regular rider of a particular bus route is routinely harassing fellow passengers, it should be straightforward to have an undercover officer ride, catch him in the act, and press charges.
It would also help to have a clarification regarding policy for intoxicated passengers; particularly those who do not pay fare. They are at much higher risk for bad behavior, but they put bus drivers in an impossible position: either they let the intoxicated person on and risk violence between the passengers, or confront the intoxicated person directly and risk violence against themselves. The best policy may be for bus drivers to send out an alert and stay put until police officers can arrive to remove the intoxicated person.
On a related subject, response times to bus emergencies need to be improved, dramatically. I have only been on a bus with an emergency situation once, and Metro Police never arrived after the bus driver waited for twenty minutes. That's ridiculous. Bus drivers should be able to get immediate assistance from city police if Metro Police are not available. Response times should be less than two or three minutes at most. Faster responses to emergencies will help get rid of a lot of the worst offenders, who are currently taking advantage of Metro's asleep-at-the-wheel approach to policing public transportation.
by Born in L.A. on Feb 23, 2012 6:05 pm • link • report
It's worth noting that perceived (not actual) very high crime rates in NYC's subway system was one of the things that decimated ridership in the 70s. It wasn't until the "broken windows" policy of cracking down on all subway crime, no matter how small (like graffiti or turnstile jumping), that ridership went up. Personally, I miss the days when eating french fries on Metro could get you arrested.
I think part of the problem on reporting against a WMATA employee is that you're just reporting it to another WMATA employee who has every incentive to "get the back" of their fellow employee. There should be a hotline for reporting crime/fraud/abuse by WMATA employees.
by Falls Church on Feb 23, 2012 7:02 pm • link • report
For some reason WMATA seems to get a free pass from the Post. Maybe Sarles has compromising pictures of the Metro editor or something.
by Phil on Feb 23, 2012 7:20 pm • link • report
You know what happens when you "talk back" to these fools? They either threaten you or laugh in your face, or both. Trust me, I've been polite ("I'm just going to my stop"), I've been agressive ("get the "f" out of my face before I kick you in the balls"). Nothing is effective unless there's a CULTURE that says this behavior is unacceptable. Men, women, Metro employees, police, and others have sat by and watched these altercations. Until we create a culture where this behavior is unacceptable, it will continue. But we won't create that culture if agencies like Metro "blame the victim," minimize our experiences, let their EMPLOYEES get away with the harassment, and do NOTHING to promote a culture where women aren't perceived as public property, easy targets, and, most of all, either "too sensitive" or the ones to blame.
In case you were wondering, I'm a young-ish (over 30, but look a little younger), not-terribly-attractive woman, who dresses pretty modestly. Not that it matters, but if it happens to me, it happens to everyone, and I've got a website's worth of stories to prove it (hollabackdc.wordpress.com), plus more that I've heard and witnessed that have never been published.
by Ms. D on Feb 23, 2012 9:15 pm • link • report
by Steve K on Feb 23, 2012 9:18 pm • link • report
This is the culture we live in. If you don't think that's a problem, castrate yourself, now, and if you have any daughters, find them a better home where someone will respect them.
by Ms. D on Feb 23, 2012 9:29 pm • link • report
by Bill on Feb 23, 2012 9:47 pm • link • report
by Ms. D on Feb 23, 2012 10:28 pm • link • report
This is an important issue. Harassment is real and I've seen enough of it on the street to convince me it is epidemic. It is a health, public safety and quality of life issue.
Harassment is enabled by so many things. Its many apologists see it as a harmless and even flattering behavior, but it is enabled, as well, by people who don't realize it is a problem. It is enabled by the absence of community backlash. Curbing this behavior will require getting the message out to the entire community.
Metro is in the best possible position to do a great public service. It reaches thousands of people and its PSA campaign may have real impact throughout the area.
by kob on Feb 23, 2012 10:59 pm • link • report
Is there any evidence sexual harassment on Metro is worse than it is in any public area?
I don't know the answer to either question.
Let's imagine a hypothetical. One person is groped by another. In one case, it occurs on a sidewalk and in the other it occurs on a Metro platform. Is Metro more responsible for this behavior than the government that owns the sidewalk?
Does DC/MD/VA have a "good Samaritan" law? One in which bystanders are required to help persons in need?
Good Samaritan laws generally do not compel action. Such laws protect from legal liability those who have no duty to intervene and do so anyway.
Even if such laws did compel action, would this be good policy?
by WRD on Feb 23, 2012 11:23 pm • link • report
by TGEoA on Feb 24, 2012 12:01 am • link • report
Harassing behavior by fellow customers will be more difficult to police, and some of it may be protected--but there is no right to speak in a railroad car. If this is really a problem, Metro could have quiet cars like passenger railroads.
And at the very least, Metro should be tracking the complaints and enterring it into a GIS data base that managers and the public can read; if managers are unable to fix hotspots, at least customers can be warned and if possible avoid them. Abusive is abusive, but it tends to hurt alot more when it is unexpected.
by Jim Titus on Feb 24, 2012 6:38 am • link • report
Then you call in the union folks (fortunately there are women among their leadership) and tell them that this stuff has gotta stop.
But to get cooperation from the union, the first actions must be against management types. They have fostered and continue to excuse this culture of harassment and disrespect.
by Mike S. on Feb 24, 2012 9:10 am • link • report
by Jerome on Feb 24, 2012 9:12 am • link • report
by Joe on Feb 24, 2012 9:15 am • link • report
by Joe on Feb 24, 2012 9:18 am • link • report
by Neil Flanagan on Feb 24, 2012 9:23 am • link • report
I'm an every-now-and-then visitor to DC who always uses Metro (bus and rail) when I visit. For the sake of this conversation, I should also identify that I am male.
I've had trouble with farecards, etc., in the past and with the exception of one helpful WMATA employee this fall who was already standing at a ticket machine helping others, the amount of disdain and contempt for me as a customer of virtually every other WMATA station attendant I've encountered is frankly, mindblowing.
I grew up riding the MBTA in Boston, which is of course unionized, and this type of thing doesn't happen in T stations. Their staff may not be overly cheerful Wal-mart greeters, but they answer questions, give directions, suggest alternate trip routings if they think you can get somewhere faster, etc. I've seen the same in NYC and Chicago.
I even put this question to the local ATU 689 rep when GGW hosted their comments a while back. The rep gave a non-answer that did not even acknowledge that other unionized transit workforces have vastly better customer service orientation than WMATA's unionized workforce.
See here:
http://greatergreaterwashington.org/post/11450/atu-local-689-answers-your-questions/
Organizations create cultures over time. The WMATA frontline culture, which happens to include a union, includes a general disregard for the needs of the customer as compared to the needs of the staff.
A culture in which WMATA employees helped customers fight sexual harassment would be one in which customers who saw employees sticking up for their human rights would then, in turn, stick up for fair pay and working conditions for WMATA employees. This is a virtuous cycle of citizenship and public service that we all hope would appear in any city. It is telling that nobody at WMATA seems to see this as an opportunity to build credibility with their customers and citizens in general.
That the WMATA staff generally don't help enforce norms of decency or even participate in degrading behavior indicates the particular quality of decay within WMATA's workplace culture.
Other unionized transit cities in the US prove that this problem has acute local characteristics that are the exception, not the rule among transit properties, and that addressing those specific issues is the key to improving the situation.
by CityBeautiful21 on Feb 24, 2012 10:00 am • link • report
Nothing wrong with a PSA campaign, but this stuff needs to be addressed both from the top-down and the bottom-up. And it shouldn't be on the victim to react necessarily. We'd see a lot less of this behavior if the harrasser got a rabbit-punch to the back of the head from a well-meaning bystander while wiggling his willy at his harrassee.
by oboe on Feb 24, 2012 10:07 am • link • report
I agree, these problems are not a result of unionization per se. But it is unlikely that ATU 689's organizational culture will ever change. The best short run solution, therefore, is some good old fashioned union busting.
by Phil on Feb 24, 2012 10:09 am • link • report
Secondly, every mother in the DC/MD/VA region should have a serious sit-down with their sons and tell them how to treat women. Every lady should have a chat with the guys they're dating and tell them how they want to be treated. Every lewd comment should be responded to with a kick in the junk or some pepper spray in the face. Tina said it right above, "Sisters gotta get together to combat this." There are many many smarter things you can do than play the cowering victim and spend thousands on cabs instead of taking the bus.
by MDE on Feb 24, 2012 10:11 am • link • report
by Arl Fan on Feb 24, 2012 10:13 am • link • report
Unions are part of the problem? Oh boy, here we go w/more "it's the unions" crap. WMATA manages its employees. Unions represent their members. I'm not aware of any union managing the behavior of its members...nor should they.
by HogWash on Feb 24, 2012 10:27 am • link • report
Metro's management has to manage its employees. If they want customer service to improve they need to figure out a way to track that and improve employee performance. Metro has shown over and over again that they can't be bothered to deal with this part of their business.
Union busting doesn't solve anything - you can't just fire your entire workforce and start over and expect things to get better. They won't.
by MLD on Feb 24, 2012 10:55 am • link • report
While I don't disagree your omission of the role of men sort of illustrates the whole problem of putting the responsibility of mens' behavior on the shoulders of women.
Fathers, grandfathers, uncles, brothers, best buds and male acquiantances need to educate one another about how men act.
This is a problem of mens behavior. It won't change until men take on the responsibility for changing it.
In the meantime the ladies gotta learn some self-defense and kick some mo-fo ass when needed.
by Tina on Feb 24, 2012 11:15 am • link • report
But the thing is, as along as men get any sort of positive feedback (a smile, a blush) from unwanted sexual advances, they'll keep doing it. Heck, I think they'll keep doing it until they receive extremely negative feedback. Hence the suggestion of pepper spray and knees-to-junk contact.
Who would ever go on a date with a guy who cat-called you from a moving vehicle? Really, guys, has that EVER worked?
by MDE on Feb 24, 2012 11:30 am • link • report
@Arl Fan- very close, but not entirely what I am saying. I am saying: "unionization is a method of organizing workers that can amplify a variety of elements of workplace culture, good or bad."
MLD says it well. Put another way, WMATA manages its employees and its relationship with ATU 689 in a way that amplifies facets of workplace culture that are very bad for WMATA customers. This must change.
If I were a WMATA Board member, and wanted to really make a difference, I'd start by reaching out to NYC, Boston, and other heavily unionized transit cities and figure out how their management of unionized employees leads to better customer service outcomes across the board. Fixing these problems is a long-term commitment to the stuff MLD is talking about.
by Citybeautiful21 on Feb 24, 2012 11:42 am • link • report
This is why I included "best buds and male aquaintances" on my list. I left off "men who are strangers and witness the behavior". There are men everywhere. Maybe you're a man. If you are you have a role.
Throwing the onus of responisbility for mens behavior onto women, especially onto moms, is the oldest sexist notion out there.
Some men are just assholes in spite of their great mom. They need to hear it from other men including, and maybe especially from strangers on the street/metro car. The message: "Your behavior is not an acceptable way for a man to behave. I know. I'm a man." If there's no intervention the behavior will never change.
by Tina on Feb 24, 2012 11:50 am • link • report
by MDE on Feb 24, 2012 12:03 pm • link • report
I recently watched one of those "what would you do" shows when both a young adult man was "manhandling" his mom in the store. The other was a young boy (maybe 10) who was cursing and disrespecting his mom. In BOTH cases, not one man said a word. It's sad
But FWIW, this man does though. And yes, I've been cursed out in return
by HogWash on Feb 24, 2012 12:05 pm • link • report
Reagan fired all of the country's air traffic controllers in one day and planes still stayed in the air.
If that was possible, I am pretty sure that with good management Metro could handle getting rid of its problem employees without significant disruptions. A lot of these people probably add zero or negative value anyway.
by Phil on Feb 24, 2012 12:15 pm • link • report
So I'm left wondering what a Transit Authority's role is addressing a wide-ranging societal issue.
A lot of comments say there needs to be a wide-ranging anti-harrassment message. But who should give that message?
Why is it WMATA? Why not the District government? Why not a state or local agency?
I don't see WMATA as the best messenger for an anti-sexual harassment campaign. Metro has the responsibility for running a safe, efficient transit system. Part of the safety part is enforcing laws, including the laws against eating and sexual harassment. Yes, the no food and drinks thing is actually a law, Joe. They simply cannot be responsible enforcing gentlemen's rules on their system.
And again, why does Metro own the conduct of transit users more than the Montgomery County Police own the conduct of pedestrians?
by WRD on Feb 24, 2012 12:20 pm • link • report
Props to you. And I also try to call out creepy guys on the bus or the Metro when it seems safe to do so. But you never know when someone is carrying a gun or knife. Or if they are mentally unstable/on drugs and are ready to snap. So I can't assign too much blame to those who feel uncomfortable stepping in.
by Phil on Feb 24, 2012 12:20 pm • link • report
YES!
Its human nature to desire respect from others. If someone is already demonstrating he doesn't care about earning respect from women then you can bet doubly he cares deeply about being respected by his peers/who he perceives as his peers -other men.
Men who bully women are trying to express how manly or macho they are. They care a lot what other men think of them.
AND- Because men know they are much more likely to get their ass kicked by another man than by a woman they are bullying.
At some point men (all adults, even young adults) are responsible for how they act and can no longer blame their moms/dads/childhoods.
look, as many other commeters have said, if the unacceptable behavior is not called out the actor doesn't know its unacceptable. Once again -the problem we are discussing is mens behavior. Not womens. Not moms. Men acting bad is the problem. Therefore men have a unique role to intervene on the destructive behavior of other men/young men/adolescents/boys. Its a societal problem, not strictly a family problem. We are saying, as a society, as a culture, this behavior is unacceptable. It needs to be said out loud in public by other men who don't act that way.
@Hogwash - Thankyou! Now can you take on MDE who keeps insisting that women/moms are the sole responsibility for the behavior of men?
by Tina on Feb 24, 2012 12:33 pm • link • report
1)part of the problem is the behavior of WMATA employees and the response of WMATA when a complaint is lodged against those employees
2)WMATA is a captive system. As someone else wrote, if eating is considered illegal on WMATA then surely threatening / assaulting someone while in WMATAs system can be addressed.
WMATA doesn't consider women being threatened a problem, but it does consider eating on the train/bus a problem. Everyone knows you're not supposed to eat on WMATA. Thus WMATA has demonstrated it can take on a mission of influencing behavior within its system with warnings and arrests.
by Tina on Feb 24, 2012 12:41 pm • link • report
Sexual harassment is not about trying to get a date with the person you are harassing. It is about control, with the reward being the sense of excitement and satisfaction the perps get when they see their victims looking uncomfortable and/or scared. This is why when victims or bystanders do stand up to harassers, they are usually responded to with violence and other threatening behavior.
And no, sexual harassment is not just a WMATA problem. It is a societal problem that occurs in all public places, very often on public transit where it is easy for harassers to simply disappear at the next stop once they've achieved their objective. It is the least WMATA can do (especially now after the dismissive comments made by Stessel and Taborn) to conduct a public awareness campaign and educate their employees on the seriousness of this issue.
by Rebecca on Feb 24, 2012 12:48 pm • link • report
Agreed, to the extent WMATA employees are responsible for the harassing behavior.
WMATA is a captive system.
I don't know what this means.
WMATA doesn't consider women being threatened a problem, but it does consider eating on the train/bus a problem.
To the extent anyone outside WMATA knows what "WMATA" thinks, I believe WMATA considers neither threatened women nor eating/drinking a problem. Let's also consider WMATA is a 10,000-employee organization with serious management issues. It is unclear that they have just a single position on any issue.
Thus WMATA has demonstrated it can take on a mission of influencing behavior within its system with warnings and arrests.
Agreed, to the extent the behavior is illegal.
But what is their responsibility beyond enforcing the law? Does this responsibility extend to all local governments and governmental entities in every jurisdiction?
I've mostly asked questions here, so my opinion is that issue is emblematic of growing crime on Metro coupled with some blundering public comments. I would like to see better enforcement of every law on Metro especially sexual harassment laws.
It is the least WMATA can do (especially now after the dismissive comments made by Stessel and Taborn) to conduct a public awareness campaign and educate their employees on the seriousness of this issue.
No, I don't agree. What good will a PSA campaign do to "educate" the public? How many people out there will be influenced? Will this make the problem better? I think PSAs probably rate adversely on each, but I'm open to evidence to the contrary.
I'm neutral to the employee education idea, but I wonder what good it will do. WMATA sexual harassment is only one talent management issue facing WMATA and I think education alone is unlikely to change anything.
by WRD on Feb 24, 2012 1:44 pm • link • report
I don't know what this means.
2 ways.
1) You're on the train with someone and stuck there. You're captive, at least until the next stop.
2) People riding the train/bus are stuck on there until they get off. There are plenty of opportunities to communiticate with this captive audience during their ride.
by Tina on Feb 24, 2012 2:24 pm • link • report
First of all, I'm being targeted for an immutable characteristic - being a woman. On numerous occasions I've been harassed when looking downright ugly (just woke up and took my dog out, heading home from a sporting event, etc.). There is NOTHING I can do to avoid being harassed. It's not like taking my earbuds out nd not flashing a lot of cash. Short of a sex-change operation, I can't hide the fact that I'm a woman, and even that might not work depending on how "feminine" I ended up looking.
Second, people COMPLETELY IGNORE harassment. I have a *really* hard time believing you've never witnessed harassment, particularly in DC. But you obviously have never *noticed* it. Could be willful ignorance, could just be oversight. I'm not blaming, just pointing out that when I can see this happen on a daily basis (in NE DC, Downtown, and particularly any place where there's a bar or restaurant), you've more than likely walked right past someone being harassed more times than you even can imagine. Even when people do notice, they do nothing. There were several men and numerous women around when that woman I escorted back from the restroom was being loudly, aggressively harassed. Why was it *only* me (the 5'5 woman) who stepped up and helped her out? Those guys and women heard what was going on (I mean, the man was shouting into the ladies room from the hall), all the women saw the woman cowering out of sight from the doorway, and everyone else just looked around uncomfortably. Where were the adults to help me out when an adult man was aggressively harassing me at *12*? I hope it never happens to you, but if you are unlucky one day and get jumped, or mugged, or robbed, or burgled, your neighbors will come to your aid. They may not fight the attacker/robber/burglar off, but they'll call the police, maybe even yell something out their window. Most people do *nothing* when they see even the most aggressive harassment, or even "minor" sexual assault such as flashing or groping. They don't even ask the victim if she's alright after the perpetrator is gone. It's truly an invisible crime to everyone but the perpetrators and victims.
by Ms. D on Feb 24, 2012 2:28 pm • link • report
Aside from not realizing that PSAs have been very effective in certain areas of public health and crime your attitude seems to be "what good will it do. So lets not do anything."
by Tina on Feb 24, 2012 2:33 pm • link • report
My point is that I can't recall hearing such on the metro nor have I seen women ben being physically harassed..such as the groping, fondling breasts that's been mentioned here. Flashing? No, I can say w/authority that I've never witnessed such.
by HogWash on Feb 24, 2012 2:47 pm • link • report
But I don't think that present circumstances requires cleaning house and firing all the Metro employees, as is suggested by Phil's analogy to the air traffic controllers. Something does need to change, however, when the union is both able and willing to use the tools at their disposal to actively prevent Metro from "manag[ing] its employees" and "improv[ing] employee performance," as MLD suggests Metro should do. When attempts to measure employee performance or to boost performance standards are met by threats of organized union action and efforts to discipline employees who fail to meet professional standards are challenged by the union and reversed by union-friendly arbitrators, it affects the culture just as statements, actions, and priorities of management do. Yes, this in part reflects a failure by Metro management to prioritize service standards in negotiating contracts with the union. But it also reflects a failure by the union. And I don't accept those comments that say: "it's not the union's role to do that." Of course it is. Organizations of all kinds, including unions, make clear the standards they expect from their members because the actions of one member reflect on the actions of all. And because the success or failure of their employer will affect the well-being of all.
by Arl Fan on Feb 24, 2012 2:54 pm • link • report
I am aware PSAs have been used to discourage smoking, drunk driving, and unprotected sex. They have been used to encourage healthy eating, seat belt use, and vaccines. None of this speaks at all to the effectiveness of the PSAs. Did seat belt use increase because of PSAs or despite PSAs?
Again, I am open to evidence on this issue, but your comment confuses correlation and causation.
by WRD on Feb 24, 2012 3:03 pm • link • report
I remember I was in Ireland in 2006, and saw some really offensive PSAs in a pub bathroom. I was literally peeing on an advertisement with bloody dead people encouraging me not to drink and drive.
In 2003, DUI deaths in Ireland were up. By 2008, they had declined (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/7546499.stm). Did PSAs serve as the reason that DUI deaths decreased? Or were other factors at play?
Anyways, more data is needed to show that PSAs would actually be effective. Citing the ipod thefts is silly, because I didn't look at those and think "it had never occurred to me that somebody might want to steal my $200 music device."
Now, you can argue that PSAs in this instance stand a chance of being more effective, since many potential victims might not know what to do. Even still, there has not been much data presented to suggest that PSAs really make a demonstrable difference, or will in this case.
by Jim on Feb 24, 2012 3:13 pm • link • report
There is eveidence that awareness of and change in attitudes in all the things I mentioned. I'm sorry id its rude to say "I can't get you the evidence". Its there. If you're really interested you can find it. I suggest starting with prenatal exams and 'back-to-slepp. B-T-S has significantly reduced the prevalence of SIDS w/ nothing but a PSA campiagn.
by Tina on Feb 24, 2012 3:15 pm • link • report
just a fantasy as far as PSAs are concerned,
research has reinforced the importance
of identifying realistic goals, receptive
audiences, and effective messages – and
then exhausting every possible media channel
to make sure those messages reach
members of the target audience enough
times.....But whether public service advertising
succeeds in this new environment will
depend upon the questions we ask, and,
even more, on the questions we answer, in
the months and years ahead."
http://www.kff.org/entmedia/loader.cfm?url=/commonspot/security/getfile.cfm&PageID=13935
Whether a PSA will be effective or not is a black and white question, Tina. PSAs can be beneficial, but it's not as simple as saying "let's do one." This is why a robust cost-benefit analysis is necessary.
by Jim on Feb 24, 2012 3:21 pm • link • report
While I've heard the occasional lewd comment (and called people out on it) I haven't seen the more serious forms of harassment either.
Yet almost every woman I know has experienced some form of harassment on the Metro - whether it's groping, flashing, or in my fiancee's case, being followed home by a guy who was openly masturbating. So clearly it is an issue.
by Phil on Feb 24, 2012 3:23 pm • link • report
As to your seemingly crude understanding of correlation, "Correlation does not imply causation" is a common theme for much of the epidemiological literature. For epidemiologists, the key is in the term inference."
by Tina on Feb 24, 2012 3:27 pm • link • report
I never said it was. WRD did. s/he said "There is no evidence they (PSAs) work". That is what I refuted.
by Tina on Feb 24, 2012 3:31 pm • link • report
by Jim on Feb 24, 2012 3:33 pm • link • report
You're right, I have no idea what the epidemiological literature says about anything. My background is in economics. The connection to epidemiology seems a little shaky to me (why not sociology or criminology?). But it does seem plausible.
I don't know what effect PSA campaigns have. You seem to believe they're effective. I am skeptical. I think it is implausible PSA campaigns do much, but I would love to see some evidence one way or the other.
If you don't have any evidence, that's fine. I'm not quoting from the economic literature either! I am just saying it's a weakness in the argument for a PSA campaign.
by WRD on Feb 24, 2012 4:02 pm • link • report
The Back to Sleep campaign began in 1994.
Since the campaign started, the percentage of infants placed on their backs to sleep has increased dramatically, and the overall SIDS rates have declined by more than 50 percent (PDF - 49 KB).
http://www.nichd.nih.gov/sids/
This is an example of epidemiology.
We are talking about violence against women. Threatening and touching, i.e. assualt. In addition to a criminal issue its a public health issue b/c it affects womens' well-being and health on a population scale. This is epidemiology.
Epidemilogy encompasses sociology (with emphasis on quantitative analysis and evidence that sociology is sometimes percieved to lack) as well as other disciplines.
There is ample evidence that PSAs inform, change attitudes and behavior, and save lives.
Quick -what do you do if your clothes catch on fire?
I am asserting that a simple PSA campaign, like the example from the CTA, has the potential to change attitudes and behavior. Why? B/c other types of PSAs have done just that.
Accompanied by taking steps to change the culture at WMATA from the top down and within the union wrt womens safety.
Do i know if it would work? No. but I can look at existing evidence from other PSAs to make an informed hypothesis. Of course data should be collected and the effectiveness of the PSA tested. Thats epidemiology. but if you do nothing then you can't test anything.
by Tina on Feb 24, 2012 4:27 pm • link • report
The instances you mention, BTS,SD&R were far more than PSA campaigns. They were TARGETED campaigns at point of sale. Pediatrician offices, schools etc.
by TGEoA on Feb 24, 2012 11:55 pm • link • report
That police officer would be correct. It is a free country where you are free to say whatever you want to people in public. In the workplace it isn't even individuals that are liable it's their employer. It's also only a civil matter. In other words if your coworker sexual harasses you at work all you can do is sue the company and all they can do is fire the offending person. It's not as if anyone is going to get hauled off to jail for making a lude comment in any scenario.
The groping is one thing but I think it's going a little far to be policing what passengers on a public transportation system can say. Not only is it unconstitional I'd go so far as to say it's morally wrong. You do not have a right not to be offended by what other people say. Grow some thicker skin or a sharper tongue to fight back.
by Doug on Feb 25, 2012 4:14 am • link • report
I'm mean I'm not saying I'm going to stand around and watch a women get raped on the metro platform but outside of that I'm more than likely going to mind my own business and so is everyone else. Sorry but that's life.
by Doug on Feb 25, 2012 8:29 am • link • report
by Long-time local on Feb 25, 2012 8:56 am • link • report
Yes they were targeted to an audience. But I would not characterize them as "far more than PSAs". The NIH calls BTS a PSA campaign. All PSAs are targeted to a specific audience.
A PSA in the WMATA system is targeted to WMATA users and perhaps WMATA employees.
Thats the denominator. Perhaps 2 diff numerators 1)women who might be affected/exposed 2)men who might be the "agent of disease" if you will.
I'm pushing back against the preconceived notion that "PSAs don't work/there's no evidence that they work."
by Tina on Feb 25, 2012 10:03 am • link • report
I think you're responding to some of the comments I made. I agree w/ your statement above. Thats why my first comment included "women gotta organize to protect one another and collect the couraage to kick ass if its called for."
My other comments about men taking responsibility were push back against the assertion that moms/women need to educate men/ and/or the bullying is some kind of lame wooing device. No. Neither. Men need to educate themselves about both.
by Tina on Feb 25, 2012 10:10 am • link • report
It was a PSA targeted to kids in school. Yes it required cooperation from sch admin and teachers. They had a an interest in teaching kids SD&R.
Just as a PSA campaign in WMATA requires cooperation from WMATA who may see they have an interest in reducing incidents of whatever the subject of the PSA is, i.e. ipod theft or unattended suitcases; "Is that your bag?"
by Tina on Feb 25, 2012 10:20 am • link • report
Remember the bus driver who punched out McGruff the Crime Dog? He should have been fired, but the union took up his case and he only got suspended. And since the union members pay dues, the union's primary responsibility is to represent them. And that includes the sexual harassers.
The union's secondary responsibility is to protect its own members and the general public from sexual harassment.
I'm not making a value judgement here. I'm a member of three different unions, active in one, inactive in one, and a retired life member of a third.
The only way to get the union to play an active role in combatting sexual harassment is to start at the very top.....go after non-union (management) types and urge the union members to report any cases of union members being harassed. A large percentage of WMATA workers are female union members. Only then do you work with the union leadership (which includes women) to educate workers that harassment is not to be tolerated.
You MUST make it clear that this is about respecting women, and not some sort of anti-union activity. If you don't first go after Taborn and his crowd, don't expect the Jeters of this world to listen to you.
by Mike S. on Feb 25, 2012 11:42 am • link • report
by Mike O on Feb 27, 2012 11:27 am • link • report
by lacey on Mar 2, 2012 6:34 pm • link • report
by Gigi on Mar 7, 2012 1:13 pm • link • report
Add a Comment