Corbyn says he will consult women on women only train carriages

i would have thought that most trains are more than one quarter/one eighth women so not all women on them will fit into the carriage.

But I think the idea would be to have them on late night trains that are rarely full?

Anyway I'm not keen on the idea but am glad the issue is being raised and discussed, only the other day I was on the top deck of a late bus with just one other man who was beckoning me over to talk etc, so fucking tiresome.
More visibility of staff on late night trains would be much more useful though.

I'm not overly convinced that single sex carriages are the way to go i would favour more train guards with monitored cctv to help beat the problem, At least he is willing to listen to suggestions and explore ways of keeping travelling lone females safe

in schools

The idea of a staffed carriage is great but I'm sure the train companies don't want to pay for that. People's safety won't trump saving money sadly .

As a minimum there needs to be robust CCTV, posters making it clear that sexual harassment and assault will be investigated.

At least Corbyn has talked about reforming the PSHE agenda as well to start talking about this stuff on schools.

I'm still astonished (well not really) about how this has been picked up on.

I would have thought that most trains are more than one quarter/one eighth women so not all women on them will fit into the carriage.

I like the hotline idea.

www.jeremyforlabour.com/end_street_harassment

That's the full position on street harassment. It includes working with police forces etc

However, of course if a woman wasn't in one of those carriages and was attacked then it would be her fault...

This is my biggest problem with the idea - it could very easily turn into another stick to beat women with. On top of 'what were you wearing' and 'why were you out late alone', you'd get 'why weren't you in the women's carriage /why didn't you wait for a train with a women's carriage'.

It doesn't feel like it would help tackle the root problem - instead it feels like it could make it worse by piling more responsibility on women.

To be honest Scallops, a woman is attacked anywhere and it's usually her fault. Unless we all lived in individual pods and had no physical contact with anyone, all abuses visited on us are our fault in some way.

Floppity, first class is not male only. I've travelled in it and several women are usually there.

I support Corbyn consulting on this point.

I was thinking about this again last night. Now, it wouldn't effect me that much, I'm older, used to it, don't care anymore. But I have a baby daughter and I don't really want her getting used to it as a schoolchild or a teenager. I'd prefer to send her on a women's only carriage on the train if she were going. I don't want her to see what I've seen.

Maybe he should think about employing more security guards on his nationalised railway. He could also get rid of the male-only first class compartments.

"But then would this say male behavior is fine you just cant behave like that in this space." But the message is already that this male behaviour is fine! Men get away with it all the time.

The other thing is that women-only carriages is being presented as an alternative to tackling the problem of male violence. It isn't an either/or situation. Both could be done at the same time. Keep women safer whilst sorting out male violence.

However, of course if a woman wasn't in one of those carriages and was attacked then it would be her fault...

I hope he wins too plays. Hes the only Labour candidate. The others are just conservatives in Labour clothing

I'm not seeing how asking women's groups their opinions on things is a bad idea.... the women's only carriages wasn't his idea, it was suggested by women to him.

At least he's willing to listen, makes a nice change.

I sincerely hope he wins. And wins convincingly.

I am a Labour party member and have voted in the leadership election, but not for him. I truly hope he does not win.

Under his leadership Labour will be even less capable of winning a general election than it was under Foot and Kinnock.

Thing is, he couldn't win with this one. If he'd said no, piss off, stupid idea, then the media would have been all 'JC doesn't CARE about women's safety', but if he said OK let's try it then it will be 'JC wants to put women in purdah and not allow them to mix with men ever!' I think he gave the best answer he could - that he will consult with women and women's groups about what they think will improve women's safety.

He has also proposed working with police, local and transport authorities, universities and women's organisations to develop strategies for stopping street harassment, creating a ministerial role for women's safety, public awareness campaigns, and a 24/7 police hotline staffed by women (source). But yes, let's all get outraged by the fact that he is planning to consult women on their views on women-only carriages.

On my tube line they had a guard operating the doors until some time in the 90s and they were always in the last carriage iirc so you knew where they were. I always got in that one when travelling alone late at night and lots of other women by themselves did too and of course men if they felt safer there.

Lots of people feel vulnerable for a variety of reasons and having an attended carriage is a place to go - or even the one next to it so you are close to someone "in authority" gives a sense of safety and of course they could easily communicate with the driver etc.

That would be a good solution but of course it's very expensive.

I think women only carriages would cause as many problems as they would solve probably, but I do think that a politician saying they are worried about street harassment towards women and girls and so going to ask them what they think should be done about it is brilliant. It hasn't put me off him but I'm not a Labour member and it's too late to join to vote so unless I get an opportunity at a general election then my thoughts don't make much odds

I think it's an excellent idea. I've had too many penises rubbed against me on public transport

People are talking, it's a start!

I think it's great that he wants to open up discussion about it. No doubt he will consult women's organisations and maybe even us and he will then be told why this isn't the answer. He will also be given loads of other suggestions about what might work etc. How is this a bad thing?

You really can't win can you? Damned if you do and damned if you don't.

I'm glad he has come out with this ridiculous idea. Possibly it will make people think before voting for him.

At least he is actually open to thinking about women's issues and safety. Quite a refreshing change from the current 'calm down dear' attitudes at the top. I was wavering between him and Cooper but I've made my mind up now.

Well, so far no strategies undertaken have been able to deal with the problem. More of the same won't either. So what's the option? Not creating a safe space for women has the effect of continuing to leave ale violence in public unchecked. Feeble education programmes don't work. There is no agreement that strong law enforcement is appropriate. Other passengers consistently decline to intervene. So yeah, I think that dismissing this proposal out of hand saying we should continue to use the same failed strategies is the same as saying that nobody really cares about male violence against women - at least not enough to change anything.

the vehemence with which people are reacting against it is an indication of how little appetite there is for dealing with male violence.

That does not follow. See Lweji's post above.

India is one of the few countries which has separate carriages for women-do we want to emulate their gender policies? The others are Indonesia, Japan and Mexico.