MTA must crack down on epidemic of subway groping
Saturday, July 19th 2008, 9:57 PM
When the city wants to cut down on littering in the subways, we launch an anti-littering ad campaign. Domestic violence, an anti-domestic violence ad campaign. Panhandling, check. Heck, even tree-killing beetles get their own ad space.
But subway gropers and flashers? Fuhgeddaboudit.
This week, news broke that the MTA's quiet preparation of an anti-groping subway ad campaign was put to a halt by MTA officials, even after they had developed mockups. The campaign was planned in response to a recent study by Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer on sexual assault in the subway system - which found that 63% of respondents said they'd been harassed, and 10% said they'd been sexually assaulted.
The numbers are staggering, but we bet even these figures understate the facts. We and the thousands of New Yorkers we work with have experienced this epidemic firsthand - and we're just plain sick of it.
That's why in 2005 we started Holla Back NYC (hollabacknyc.com), a movement to fight back against street harassment - by snapping photos of the perpetrators and posting them online. We understand that raising awareness and making perpetrators think twice are the best ways to bite the hands that grope us.
The MTA doesn't get it. Their supposed reason for calling off the ad campaign? They're reportedly afraid it might actually encourage more lewd behavior. As though a creep is going to decide to grope a woman only after he reads a subway advertisement.
They're right about one thing: A campaign is likely to lead to an increase in harassment reports. But that's a good thing.
In Boston, where trains and buses are adorned with posters shouting "Rub against me and I'll expose you," and "Flash someone and you'll be exposed," the number of reported groping incidents jumped from a reported 17 in June last year to 38 this year.
Chief Paul MacMillan of the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority understood why: "We've brought attention to the fact that this is not acceptable behavior ... and people are now reporting it more."
Someone at the MTA seems worried about exposing the dirty underbelly of the city's transportation network. They'd rather ignore it - and hope that it'll go away. That's a little like hoping the rats on the tracks will vanish if we avert our eyes every time they rear their beady little eyes.
Subway ads will work. First and most importantly, they will formalize the idea that subway groping is unacceptable. That will lead New York City women, like their Boston counterparts, to feel comfortable in calling out lewd pervs on their behavior. A likely rise in the number of incidents reported will be something to celebrate - because it'll mean a rise in the number of men caught in the act.