Women using buses and trains in Paris have virtually no confidence that other passengers would step in if they were verbally or physically abused, ranking the city among the worst globally on public trust in a Thomson Reuters Foundation survey.
The poll of transport systems found the French capital ranked among the worst for women of 15 of the world’s largest capitals and New York, the most populous US city, when about 6 300 women were asked how confident they were that others would help in their own cities.
Seoul, in South Korea, was the city where women least expected fellow passengers to intervene if they were in trouble, with nine out of every 10 women not confident of getting help, while Tokyo came second and Paris ranked third.
The issue of confidence in public support was a side question to a wider poll on the best and worst transport systems for women in the 15 world cities.
By contrast, the poll, released on Wednesday, found nearly five out of every 10 women in Buenos Aires, Argentina, were confident that fellow passengers would assist them if they needed help, with similar confidence levels in NewYork.
The survey, conducted online by pollster YouGov, comes amid a debate on how to make transport safer for women as reports of abuse rise.
Studies repeatedly link safe transport with women’s ability to work, study, and economic empowerment.
Overall, 65 percent of the women surveyed were not confident that other people would help if they were being harassed, while 28 percent thought fellow passengers would step in.
“Bystander inaction is a huge problem. We hear from so many women who have been harassed, or even assaulted, and other passengers have simply looked away,” said Laura Bates, founder of the anti-harassment Everyday Sexism Project in London.
“It normalises the problem by making it seem socially acceptable, makes victims feel unable to speak up, and sends the message to perpetrators that they can act with impunity.”
The survey found in Seoul, which has a colour-coded subway system and network of buses, that 87 percent of women were not confident fellow passengers would come to their assistance.
Su-Ah Lee, 34, of Seoul, last month saw a drunken man in his fifties or sixties berate a twenty-something woman in the subway station about her knee-length skirt and make-up. No one intervened.
“They were just watching. He looked kind of dangerous or psychotic, so they didn’t want to get involved,” Lee said.
“I saw her, I wanted to help, but I didn’t want to be involved either.”
Figures showed that 86 percent of women in Tokyo were not confident of getting help from other passengers, and 85 percent of women in Paris had little faith in fellow travellers.
A young woman, who gave her name as Janine, inside the Richelieu-Drouot Metro station in Paris said she was not surprised Paris fared so badly when it came to public support.
“It’s France, that’s the mentality,” she said.
Another young woman, Julie, said she had friends who had been attacked in the Metro, which is crucial for many Parisians, running trains nearly every two minutes at rush hour and with about 254 city stations only a short walk from each other.
“I know it can happen, so I never wear a really short miniskirt or high heels,” she said. “I know we’re better off than in some cities, but you still have to pay attention. I know I can’t count on other people.”
State-owned public transport operator RATP, which launched a “sensitivity campaign” to improve behaviour on the Paris Metro in 2012, repeatedly refused to comment.
Ranking worst after Paris came Moscow, Bangkok and London.
In London more than seven out of 10 women, or 74 percent, were not confident of fellow passengers coming to help them.
Carla Teuval, 20, an associate at a financial services firm, said she was attacked once on a bus in London.
“I can’t remember what it was about, but it was a boy and I got punched in the face. Nobody did anything. Everyone just stared while I held my face afterwards,” she said.
But women themselves admitted that they could be reluctant as well to step in if they saw someone being harassed.
“I’d like to think I could be that person who would step in and help someone else, but deep down I know that in a selfish way I wouldn’t want to get hurt,” said Rhiannon Lewis, 25, an occupational therapist from London.
Reuters