Sexual violence against females at MTR

Abstract

The Mass Transit Railway (MTR) has been one of the major means of transportation that Hong Kong residents take on a daily basis. Nonetheless, research and study have shown that public transportation being a hotbed of criminal activities, in particularly sexual violence. This phenomenon is no exception in Hong Kong, especially in MTR. In this research, we aim to find out the reasons for the likelihood of the occurrence of sexual violence in MTR setting, and the application and suitability of crime preventive measure in the metro system worldwide in Hong Kong. Surveys and interviews were conducted in the research. Result showed that more than 1/3 of the respondents have once been sexually victimized in MTR. Among female passengers, the percentage goes up to over 45%. Nonetheless, result of survey and interviews indicated that there is a lack of surveillance and staff assistance when encountering sexual violence. Other crime preventive measures were further discussed in this paper. For example, we suggest that women-only compartment (WOC) could be established in Hong Kong, as the majority of our respondents deemed it as an effective crime preventive measure.