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28 BReAKOuT SeSSION Personal Security Issues Jeanne Krieg, Eastern Contra Costa County (California) Transit Authority, Presiding Sheila Mitra-Sarkar, San Diego University etsuko Tsunozaki, SEEDS Asia Ned levine, Ned Levine and Associates J eanne Krieg presided over the session on personal security issues, which focused on crimes commit-ted against women on public transit and the crime travel of female offenders. Presenters discussed the pros and cons of women-only transit vehicles and the per- sonal security challenges faced by women using public transportation. abandon all hope, ye who enTer here: undersTanding The problem of âeve Teasingâ in Chennai, india Sheila Mitra-Sarkar and P. Partheeban Fear of victimization and crime are important concerns for women in cities around the world. This fear is pro- voked through encounters with men in public space because they are unpredictable, potentially uncontrol- lable, and threatening. The objective of this study is to assess harassment faced by women commuters in Chen- nai, India. A survey was used to ask a set of questions on the nature, type, frequency, location, and societal and personal attitudes toward sexual harassment. For this study, 274 women were surveyed. The study found 66% of the surveyed respondents had been sexually harassed while commuting. The adolescent years for many of the respondents were when they first encountered sexual harassment. less than 5% found any of the modal choices to be best. The largest number of women (more than 40%) rated their worst harassment experience to be in buses and trains with no separate sections for women. women-only passenger rail Cars in Japan Etsuko Tsunozaki This paper explores the history and purpose of women- only passenger rail cars in Japan. Women-only passen- ger cars are available on some Japanese train lines. The first operation of women-only cars in Japan started in 1912, mainly because of the Confucian value that girls should not be exposed to men. Since the end of the Sec- ond World War, there have been some trial operations of women-only cars for various reasons, such as protecting women from overcrowded cars, preventing the exchange of love letters between women and men, and protecting women from molester harassment. Currently, the main purpose of this service is to provide comforts to women or men traveling with children or disabled passengers, but some contradictory opinions exist. This review of the literature on women-only passenger rail cars in Japan found there is mostly a positive reac- tion from most women (90%) and men (60%). No law legally forces men not to ride in âwomen-only carsâ or punishes men for riding in them. Nearly 27% of women surveyed in a previous study reported they always use the women-only transit cars. Nearly 27% do not use trains that provide women-only cars. When the women were asked why they use women-only cars, 27% said they
29PeRSONAl SeCuRITY ISSueS use them because it is safe, and 16% said they use them because space is available. Crime Travel of female offenders in manChesTer, england Ned Levine and Patsy Lee This study examines the travel patterns of female offenders who committed crimes in Manchester, eng- land. The data from 2006 report 97,429 crime trips in Manchester committed by 56,368 offenders. The major- ity of crimes were committed by males. Approximately one in six, however, were committed by women. The analysis showed gender differences in crime travel with interactions by age and by location of the crime. Juvenile males had the most frequent but the shortest crime trips. Female offenders, both juveniles and adults, made fewer crime trips than adult males, but of intermediate length; however, female offenders had a higher percentage of crimes committed in retail centers. A regression model indicated multiple factors con- tribute to crime trips, including the location where crimes occurred, the type of crime, whether the crime was against a person, the land use associated with the crime, the presence of co-offenders, and the age and eth- nicity of offenders. When these factors were controlled for, there was no difference in the distance traveled by female offenders compared with male offenders. This research expands knowledge on the travel patterns of female criminals, allowing both residential neighbor- hoods as well as crime locations to be targeted for crime prevention efforts. TopiCs for furTher researCh 1. Conduct a systematic, comprehensive review of articles and reports on women-only transit cars. 2. explore the application and feasibility of women- only transit cars in countries other than Japan. 3. Determine whether the application of gender-based planning can be used to prevent crime. 4. Investigate the community hazards faced by women and the types of policies that can be implemented to alle- viate these problems. 5. Identify methods for estimating the magnitude of harassment on transit vehicles. 6. Conduct research to understand the protagonists of incidents committed against women as well as to understand the offenders who commit crimes against both women and men. 7. Conduct research to understand how preventive actions can be taken in the neighborhoods where offenders live, in the locations where crimes are committed, and on the routes in which offenders travel to commit crimes.
