Corbyn’s Carriages of Segregation

Yesterday Labour leadership candidate Jeremy Corbyn said he would consider introducing ‘women only’ train carriages in a bid to end harassment.

Corbyn’s suggestion has been labelled as ‘turning back the clock’, ‘problematic’ and ‘ignorant’ by many on Twitter, with one woman hitting the nail on the head: “It would be nice to be able to live in a society where #womenonlycarriages were not even thought about, never mind seen as needed by some.”

While Jeremy Corbyn’s press team are desperately attempting to make the point that the front-runner of the Labour leadership election only ‘suggested’ the idea and it is not a concrete policy, many women are looking at the bigger issue here. It doesn’t matter that Corbyn hasn’t said it is a policy of his, it is the fact that the whole concept of ‘women only’ carriages excuses harassment. If they were ever introduced, it would be plain and simple segregation, because women are the problem. By simply setting foot on a train, women are asking for it, aren’t we? Of course not.

Instead of segregating us, why doesn’t Corbyn actually look at the root of the issue? Women are being sexually harassed on trains. We are potentially unsafe. So don’t put us somewhere else – deal with the perpetrators. Deal with a culture that deems it OK to touch women inappropriately, to continue when they say “no.” Enforce the law on these people. Make sure that they know they will be punished for their disgusting behaviour because it is utterly wrong to use a woman as an object.

However, the women must play a part in this movement too. The British Transport Police published statistics showing that sexual offences against women on trains and at stations had risen by 25%. We need to make sure that all women who feel uncomfortable due to the behaviour of other passengers report all crime. Introduce more campaigns, more publicity. That’s how we do it. Not by segregating women and promoting the ideology that women are ‘asking for it’.

I’m not saying Corbyn believes in a culture of misogyny. I’m just saying that he seriously misjudged how women would interpret a 67-year-old man telling them that it would possibly be a good idea if they rode in separate train carriages to men. While he has said he would ‘consult’ women on the issue if he became leader, perhaps he should’ve done it earlier, instead of rushing in like a bull in a china shop.