Dude's gonna cup your asscheek you better be damn sure he doesn't hit you back after you hit him.

Complain, complain, complain.

Thanks, American Woman!

When you're actually the victim of such an attack (especially in a crowded train), two reactions are common:

1. You're paralyzed with disbelief, wondering if this is really happening, and..

2. If by some chance you're wrong, you risk embarrassment or verbal abuse.

The MTA needs to put their sentiments into action, providing female-only cars for rush hour (as they do in Japan).

The majority of men would never think of rubbing up against or harrassing a woman on the train. Instead of an ad that admonishes all men for their behavior, why not encourage men to speak up when they witness inappropriate behavior?

In the time it would take to report such a thing the guy would be LONG gone. It’s much better to shame him in that moment and then report it.

A few months ago, on a very crowded train, I herd a woman threaten a man who had (apparently) touched her inappropriately. Every person on that train turned to look at the guy who was looking very red and very guilty. Some people took photos of him with their phones and offered to send them to the woman for her police report. The guy in question ended up in the corner of the train trying to hide his face and at the next stop he ran away – not the experience he was hoping for I’m sure.

So it is about the woman standing up and saying ‘NO,’ but it’s also about the rest of us backing her up. I’m not talking about mob justice – but this is one of those crimes we’ve all got to address in the moment or it’s gone.

...but perhaps the reason this crime is underreported is not because New Yorkers regard subway groping as a minor matter, but because long experience has taught them that reporting it is not likely to have any effect?

(BTW, please stop making it out like it's only men who sexually harrass women on the subway, or that it's only a crime when it's man-on-woman harrassment. It may not happen as often, but it's both completely possible and just as illegal for a man to grope another man, or for a woman to grope a man or another woman.)

You know what WOULD be effective advertising to get both victims to report groping AND to deter would-be perps? Putting more working cameras on the trains and platforms, posting more security guards on the trains and platforms, and prominently posting the mug shots of those convicted. (Considering that the newspapers routinely print pictures of convicted sex offenders along with their names and addresses, I'm pretty sure that this would be legal.)

I think pointing out that it is a crime is a fine thing, but I nothing wrong with encouraging people to speak out. I think violetkris has it about right-- ecouraging people, ie both men and women. And not just when it happens to you or when you see it, but also after someone who has had it happen to them, or seen it, and speaks out, then others who hear this should speak out too.

The Screaming Steam Hammers of Hate is quite wrong actually, the kinds of dudes that do that kind of thing are actually highly unlikely to get violent, though it is true that there is a sub-set that gets off on the shame of getting caught. But is someone does speak up, and then everybody else speaks up, it also adds to the safety factor.

But female only cars? Terrible idea, has New York become part of Saudi or Iran?

...and it certainly makes sense that the language of the ads does, in some subtle way, imply that women are the ones responsible for stopping sexual harassment. But do you honestly think that the kind of men who would cop a feel on the subway -- or touch themselves in public, or grab a stranger, or generally act like creeps -- do you honestly think they don't know that what they're doing is wrong? Somehow I don't think an ad saying "Stop that!" is going to be all that effective towards making them stop. This blog post is like arguing against fire drills, because shouldn't we really be focusing on not starting fires in the first place? Yes, but when fires inevitably start, just as aggressive idiots inevitably harass women on the subway, it's important for the innocent to know that they have options besides silence and shame.

Half the time you don't 100% know if you've been groped. The other half you're too embarassed to say anything or feel "silly" complaining.

So, yes, a campaign saying "Speak up -- this is a crime and we're going to treat it like one" makes a lot of sense. It's an awareness campaign as much as anything else. And "She's going to bust your ass if you do it" is probably more of a deterrant to a handsy creep than "That's not nice -- stop it!".

Finally, the thought of single-sex subway cars in NYC makes me laugh. New Yorkers get in the section of the train that will be closest to the exit they need at the other end and aim for a car that is uncrowded (but no SO uncrowded that it has no AC or a very smelly homeless person). The only way single sex cars would appeal would be if they were everywhere and the right amount of crowded. If you want to make special cars go for one where nobody stands in the door -- we'd be all over that.

I am extremely apprehensive about this tactic. I appreciate that the M.T.A. is making women aware that they can report sexual harassment to their employees and police officers. Nevertheless, their approach is all wrong. Yes, they are placing the onus on the victim, but they also may be enticing people at the same time.

When people see these ads, they are going to assume that groping and fondling is more prevalent than it may really be. We saw the same thing happen with anti-marijuana ads. Many teenagers who viewed these ads actually became more likely to smoke pot than if the hadn't seen them. The reason being that the ads made smoking marijuana seem like accepted practice among their peers.

The M.T.A.'s message is: "well if you don't like it than go ahead and tell someone." This message only addresses half the problem. You also can't say "a crowded train is no excuse for an improper touch." While better than the original, this approach seems like it may again be provocative to prospective frotteurs. The M.T.A. must highlight the specific punishment and underscore that vigilance has been heightened. You don't make this campaign just about educating victims, the goal should be to terrify the people committing the crime.

Does the M.T.A. really think that frotteurs grope women, because they believe that their victims DON'T KNOW that they can report the harassment??? Are these guys really going to say, "Aww shucks, they told them! now I'm finished." OF COURSE NOT. If there is a sign in a bank that says "Report robberies" are people going to be less likely to rob banks? Obviously reporting harassment is a good thing to remind women of, but it is not an adequate deterrent to the gropers.