Male Passengers Fear False Molestation Charges
Many train lines around Japan’s major cities have women-only cars to protect women from unwanted groping during crowded rush hours. The problem still persists, however, making some men worry that they could be falsely accused of molesting nearby women during their commute. The solution? How about men’s only carriages:
The recent arrest of an Osaka couple for trying to set up a middle-aged man by falsely accusing him of fondling a woman train traveler has large numbers of salarymen shaking in their boots at the thought of being blackmailed by crafty commuters looking for a quick buck. This has heightened calls on railroad companies to set up sanctuaries where men can travel in peace, safe in the knowledge that they won’t be accused of molestation.
Most railroad companies say they consider the issue a serious one.
“It’s true we’ve received over 20 formal requests for the establishment of men’s only carriages since the false accusation arrest (early last month). But actually, we’ve been receiving requests for theses carriages for a long time now. It’s not something that has started recently,” a spokesman for the Osaka Municipal Transportation Bureau, which runs the city’s subway network, tells Weekly Playboy.
But the outlook for men’s only carriages seems dim.
“We get a lot of requests for them and take note of these, but we have no plans regarding carriages exclusively for men at this time,” a spokesman for the East Japan Railway Co. (JR East) says.
Keio Electric Railway Co., which back in 2000 became Japan’s first railroad to introduce women’s only carriages, also has no current arrangements in place to correct the gender imbalance on its routes.
“We’re aware that there are these demands, but we have no concrete plans for men’s only carriages at this stage,” a company spokesman says.
Train experts say railroad companies are quite content to sit back and let men travel in fear of being falsely accused of groping.
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So, I wonder if they would ‘allow’ women in the men-only cars, the same way that I’ve never ridden in a women-only car for a long way that didn’t have at least one man in it. The trains are so badly staffed and people pay so little attention to the blatant pink signs all over that the rules don’t get enforced at all anyway..
Are you sure that you were riding during the applicable times? The woman-only car is limited to only certain times early in the morning, and maybe a few cars in the afternoon. Usually the times correspond to rush hour.
Yeah…and it’s not required for women to ride in the woman-only car either, it’s just an option.
“Over 20 requests” for a male-only car since early last month? That doesn’t seem like a lot. Of course WaiWai never says just how many requests they got for male-only cars before early last month… >_>
Besides the earlier reported fake hand-hold thing (which doesn’t stop some idiots from using their crotch), are there any solutions for the long-term being developed? Because this gender segregation shit heightens the idea that women are all victims trying to escape, which is probably part of the turn on, and so isn’t going to deter people much.
The threat of whatever the jail sentence is evidently isn’t working so well, either.
So… is there anything being done? I personally think it would be pretty cool if a few women started getting really violent. Especially if they were particularly shy and weak-looking, just to make creeps think twice before doing anything. But then, from a situation a friend recounted to me a few days ago, the guys that do this can be pretty professional about hiding themselves or deflecting accusation away from themselves, so… gah.
I bet cameras in the train car could go a long way towards solving the problem without needing to separate the sexes.
It would take some capital, but train companies aren’t exactly strapped for cash, either, since public transportation is the norm in Japan, and not the exception.
I think the issue is precisely that witnesses to the real event rarely come forward, so I can’t even tell when it’s real and when it’s not. Video cameras would make this less problematic, and since the company owns the train, it shouldn’t be illegal for them to install their own cameras.
Hell, you could market it to both sexes by claiming it’s for the sake of “legal justice” which is true whether you’re nabbing a chikan or determining the truth of someone’s claim.
I doubt that actually – very hard to see down between the passengers.
I agree with overthinker, once the cars get even half-full, I doubt the cameras would be able to provide much in terms of evidence. Though the mere presence of the cameras might be enough to deter some offenders…
Well if the women would just stop being so fucking cute, then maybe they wouldn’t have this problem!
Try pretending you’re in a museum. “Look, but don’t touch.” Everyone loves to role play.
I suppose the same rule would work in a strip club too, but these subway women don’t need to be objectified any more than they already are.
Okay, here’s the solution. JR sets up a special Groping Carriage – you pay a bit extra, and there are women in cosplay you can squeeze to your heart’s content.
Either that, or all male passengers are required to wear handcuffs and be chained to the overhead straps.
I was once falsely molested.
I was actually a little freaked out just thinking about this while riding the rails in Tokyo not too long ago. This girl was standing close to me, no one was really paying attention, and for some reason the first thing that came to mind was the “I just didn’t do it” documentary; she could very easily have screamed, slapped me, and no one would have doubted her.
John K is right, but I don’t think there’s any way to quickly reduce the number of commuters on a train. Whatever happened to jet packs?
it wasn’t a documentary, but still i get what you mean. Dunno what i would do, maybe run.