Jacie Williams is a junior majoring in communication. She can be contacted at [email protected]. A short article in USA Today caught my attention the other day. It was an article on segregation.
It is not the kind of segregation that we, being raised in the South, often think about. This particular article dealt with the new bus policy found in Mexico City, which allows for a bus specifically for women.
Because of molestation and harassment women receive while on the regular bus routes, the city decided that segregation would be the best way to help solve a problem that they found otherwise insolvable.
From all the blogs, articles and forums I have read, the majority of the women seem to approve of this new system. Mexico City has had women-only subway cars during rush hour for some time now.
According to USA Today’s article “Mexico City debuts women-only buses,” the problem with normal subway cars were that the majority of commuting women were riding the overly crowded buses, where they had no protection from sexual predators.
Although there are only three routes with the women-only buses, Mexico City plans to add 15 more by April.
It is great that the city is being proactive about protecting their women, but they could be going about it in a better manner than segregation.
First, it is sexist against the men of Mexico City. The buses for women have ample seating while the men still have to squeeze into overly crowded buses.
By adding more buses to existing routes and improving the transportation system in general, I think the problem could start to diminish on its own.
With more space on all the buses, there would be less of an opportunity to “bump” into a woman accidentally or intentionally.
Having a segregated bus system will not make the problem go away. It only makes it less apparent. The best way to combat sexual harassment is education.
Mexico City should inform women about their rights not to be harassed. Education on how to handle sexual assault would empower women not to tolerate it.
The most disturbing part of USA Today’s article was that only seven women filed official complaints last year. It is this tolerance that the women of Mexico City seem to have that makes me believe a separate bus system will not help their problem.
They need to learn self-respect. If they reported their problems and the police actually did their jobs of keeping track of and charging the offending men, the problems could be handled in other ways.
The first time a man harasses a woman on the bus, he should be banned from public transportation for a year. It does not matter if that is the only way he gets to work in the morning. If the policy is enforced properly, then the rest of the men who depend on the buses to take them to work every day will straighten up quickly. A second offense should carry a prison sentence and a fine.
A more effective way to help the women would be to make them help themselves. Inform them that molesters will be arrested when caught if the women simply report it.
Officers already stand guard to make sure that men do not get on the women-only buses. How hard would it be for those same officers to arrest anyone caught on harassment charges? This would punish the men who need to be punished and give women a chance to do something instead of just running away, which is what having a separate system makes women do.
Now an entire generation of women could grow up thinking that they are not good enough to ride the buses with the men, which should not be the case. They should be taught to fight the men who would harass them.
The city is trying for equality, but they are creating a greater division in the long run by only looking at short-term solutions.