Extra, Extra
Extra, Extra
Extra, Extra
Extra, Extra
Early Addition
Headed to a subway next month: New SubTalk posters that remind straphangers groping is a crime and encourage any victims to report incidents to an MTA employee or a police officer.
Last month, it was rumored NYC Transit didn't want to run the campaign, due to concerns it would actually increase the number of unwanted gropings (you know, the way the anti-littering ads increase littering). Now the NY Post reports "the first 2,000 posters will be distributed throughout the system and should remain up for at least three months" as NYC Transit assesses the impact.
HollaBack NYC, the site which posts victims' accounts of street--and subway-harrassers, is pleased the MTA will run the ads. Hollaback NYC co-founder Emily May told us, "We really believe public education is the best way to address sexual harassment," since victims will feel empowered to step forward and laws around verbal harassment are vague. May also said she hopes the MTA will also offer hotline for people to call in their complaints and that the NYPD adds police sensitivity training so that reports are captured effectively and sensitively.
add to digg
add to stumble upon
add to reddit
email this
add to facebook
add to del.icio.us
Good for them. I've heard some real horror stories.
Will there be a companion ad directed toward the gropers rather than the victims?
I thought it's not "street" to snitch...
When you've been groped or have a dude unzip his pants and start whack off right next to you (I've experienced the latter), wanting to tell someone and then wanting to curse the a good part of the human race are among the top things you feel.
When you've groped
Jen, is that a confession?
or have a dude unzip his pants and start whack off right next to you (I've experienced the latter)
that's partly your fault for being attractive, though you probably should have told Dobkin it was not appropriate.
Anyway, I'm sure a sign is going to deter deviants from engaging in this behavior.
"Will there be a companion ad directed toward the gropers rather than the victims?"
seriously. the ads are well intentioned, but yeah, they don't seem to address the fact that the touching shouldn't be happening in the first place.
Yeah, but that's obvious. It would be like putting up signs that say "Pickpocketing is wrong. Some people really need that money, and regardless, being robbed is enough to ruin anybody's day. Get an honest job and put your energy towards something positive!" (It could have a stick figure with a turned out pocket and a frowny face.)
These signs "turn up the heat" a little bit by making it seem more likely that one will get caught. That's enough to discourage it.
If more of these disgusting jerks get caught and punished, then a message has really been sent. Who reads those posters anyway?
I'll tell you what women can do to protect themselves: don't fall asleep on the subway. I saw a man with big loose sweatpants rubbing an erection on a girl's coat arm while she dozed on the subway. It was a crowded subway, and I was pretty far away and I could plainly see what he was doing. I tried to draw the attention of the people nearer to her, but they were just pretending not to see. She finally woke up, and also pretended nothing had happened, but got up and stood somewhere else.
Pathetic. Obviously she realized nobody was going to do a thing.
Lesson: don't fall asleep, and beware of men in loose sweatpants. Every perv I've seen on the subway wears them! It's a tip-off.
Yes, number 2 ( effinclassy), there SHOULD be! Why put all the onus on the victims? Address the pervs and tell them they're not gonna get away with it, and that they're disgusting.
In England they put photos of people who were caught fare-evading up on posters in the subways, noting that anyone who they
"caught redhanded" would end up "red-faced" too. Maybe they should put photos of pervs up in the subway here, so everyone can feel disgust upon seeing them. Or shame, when they realize it could be them next.
" I saw a man with big loose sweatpants rubbing an erection on a girl's coat arm while she dozed on the subway."
was that wrong? should i not have done that?
There is no excuse for any number of things that happen on the subway. Getting to & from work, school or wherever should not be such a perpetually tedious exercise in human interaction.
Signs haven't stopped the panhandlers, so I don't think the gropers are really sweating this one.
Looks like we gropers will need to find a new place to practice our craft.
ANTI GROPING COVERAGE AN ASSAULT ON DIGNITY OF MEN
WCBS news, the Daily News and other media outlets have cited a 2007 study which found that 63% of women reported being sexually harassed and 10% saying they had been sexually assaulted while on the subway.
Based on this shocking statistic, it would seem that there is an epidemic of male molesters running amok in the Big Apple's underground. There's only one problem - the statistic is totally unreliable. As was previously reported more than a year ago, by both the Wall Street Journal and the New York Post, the study's methodology was fatally flawed.
See the full story here:
http://hankypankyreport.blogspot.com/2008/08/mta.html
I think it helps that these pervs know that WE know they are doing it and we are going to start holding them accountable. The ENTIRE reason they do it is because women are too afraid, shocked, etc to say anything and the pervs think it is a hidden thing they are doing.
i actually think this is a bad idea, as it might give perverts who have been wanting to try this the idea that other perverts are getting away with it. anyway, i didn't realized it was much of a problem. but i'm a guy, so i guess i wouldn't know.