Push for Women-Friendly Transport in Jakarta

Jakarta Globe, Nurfika Osman, January 19, 2011

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.