As a senior lecturer specialising in gender studies, Dr Lai Suat Yan often finds herself having to defend the need for women-only train coaches.
“The argument is always on why women cannot share the same train coach as men.
“In the name of gender equality, they should not be given preference.
“My answer is always, ‘Equality does not always mean treating everyone in exactly the same way’.
“To substantiate equality, you have to treat people differently.
“Take for example equal access rights for the disabled.
“Public toilet facilities for the disabled cannot be the same as that for the physically abled.
“So, where the different genders are concerned, women have different needs,” she said.
Lai, who is also president of All Women’s Action Society (Awam), said the number of sexual harassment cases reported on public transport over the years spoke for itself, highlighting the need for women-only coaches.
Following the introduction of the women-only coach, Rapid KL through a statement said there has been a reduction in reported sexual harassment cases by 12.5% on the MRT Kajang Line following its introduction in 2023, by 48.1% on the Putrajaya Line and 58.8% on the Ampang and Sri Petaling lines following the introduction in 2024.
Through her work in Awam, Lai has heard complaints about men infringing on the personal space of women passengers next to them by sitting with their legs wide apart.
She also highlighted cases in which perpetrators took advantage of crowded buses or coaches to grope women passengers, leaving victims feeling violated and traumatised.
Lai hoped that one day, women-only coaches would no longer be necessary.
For that to happen, she said, more work was needed to raise public awareness, educate people and promote appropriate responses to sexual harassment.
On the latter, bystanders must play an active role to ensure their community remained safe, said Awam public education programme coordinator Davina Isaac.
“We do not want people to think, ‘Oh no, it’s not my problem, I don’t want to interfere.’”
Everyone should be encouraged to help and protect each other, she said.
However, this does not mean that bystanders should take the law into their own hands or resort to physical violence, said Davina.
“There is a possibility that the perpetrator may have a knife.
“The situation could escalate and become life-threatening.”
She added that commuters should also consider the consequences after they alight from a train or bus, as they may be followed by the perpetrator.
Instead, Davina encouraged commuters to respond discreetly, such as by recording the incident on their phones and reporting it through the available QR code.
