Jakarta Globe, Nurfika Osman, January 19, 2011
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| Indonesian women and school children board a women-only carriage of a commuter train at a station during its launching ceremony in Depok, West Java, Indonesia. An Indonesian train operator launched women-only carriages as a new service following complaints about pinching, groping and unwanted advances. (AP Photo/Irwin Fedriansyah) |
The
government has announced plans to provide more transportation facilities geared
toward women and children, aimed largely at tackling incidents of sexual
harassment on board public transportation.
Under a
three-year agreement, signed on Wednesday by the Ministry of Transportation and
State Ministry for Women’s Empowerment and Child Protection, existing public
transportation facilities and vehicles will be modified to curb harassment,
allow women to breast-feed their babies and provide an all-round more
comfortable commute.
Linda
Gumelar, the minister for women’s empowerment, said the present state of the
transportation sector gave rise to “a lot of gender issues.”
“We’re
fully aware that there are many cases of sexual harassment against women and
girls in overcrowded public transportation, as a result of the lack of
facilities designed to create a more comfortable commute,” she said.
“We want
more forms of transportation to be available in order to prevent sexual
harassment as well as to create a more comfortable environment for all people
who use public transportation.”
Among the
measures to be taken under the agreement, bus terminals, train stations, air and
sea ports will be required to provide nursery rooms where mothers can
breast-feed their babies.
“Children
have the right to be healthy and mothers have the right to get the support of
the community on this matter,” Linda said.
She said
stations would also have to provide more toilets for women. “Women have special
needs and they usually bring their children,” she said. “We also want the steps
on buses to have a lower, more ergonomic design that suits Indonesians better.”
Linda also
called on the Transportation Ministry to set up a call center where the public
could report stations for not providing gender-sensitive facilities.
Transportation
Minister Freddy Numberi said he was ready to implement the plan.
“We realize
our public transportation standards need to change because people are more
aware of gender equality in every aspect of life,” he said. “We also realize
that we need to make these changes in order to provide more comfortable
transportation for all people, especially women, children and the disabled.”
Freddy said
he was considering setting up a directorate dedicated to planning and designing
gender-sensitive transportation facilities. “We’re going to fix our
transportation system to support women and children,” he said.
In response
to sexual harassment cases on board commuter trains, the country’s first
women-only train cars were launched in August.
Fitted out
with pink seats, the special cars are so far only available on the route
running from Jakarta to the southern satellite city of Depok.
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