PRESS RELEASE

For immediate release

November 09, 2015

Sexual Harassment on Public Transit Is a Problem We Must Solve

Vancouver, BC- On Tuesday, November  10th Battered Women’s Support Services (BWSS) is highlighting the serious social issue of violence against women on public transit through #TransitTuesday.

Movement is a part of our daily life on average one million people use public transit every day in Metro Vancouver. Sexual harassment on public transportation is an everyday occurrence for millions of girls and women living all over the world.  According to Hollaback Vancouver, 58% of women surveyed indicate they don’t feel safe on transit.

“At BWSS, we don’t believe that harassment is an unavoidable part of a woman’s daily commute.  We believe that women must be able to move about and occupy the public space without being placed in danger or threatened.  It’s a fundamental freedom. Safe public transit for women and girls is about recognizing our experiences and needs.” –Angela Marie MacDougall, Executive Director, BWSS

On #TransitTuesday, November 10, 2015, BWSS is bringing to light the issue of sexual violence on public transit. We will be at Commercial and Broadway station in the morning handing out pamphlets with more information on how, together; we can make public transit safer for women.

“For women and girls, the freedom to move through public space comes with limitations. It also negatively impacts our health and well-being. Finding solutions we can all participate in is the best way to help prevent sexual harassment on public transit” – Rona Amiri, Violence Prevention Coordinator, BWSS

Battered Women’s Support Services will share this information during the November 10th showing of NIRBHAYA at the Cultch. The play is based on the true incident of a gang rape on a bus in Delhi and how the death of this young woman affected the lives of countless individuals.

 

Media enquiries

Angela Marie MacDougall, Executive Director, Battered Women’s Support Services

Tel. (604) 808 0507 E-mail: director@bwss.org

 

About BWSS
BWSS is a feminist organization. We believe that battering does not take place between two people individually, in isolation, but in a social context, and is rooted in the oppression of women. Further, we believe that battering is the result of a world view which supports the right of some people to oppress others. That right is granted by the privilege of status associated with gender, race, religion, class, sexual orientation, age and physical ability.
Battered Women’s Support Services provides education, advocacy and support services to assist all battered women in its aim to work towards the elimination of violence and to work from a feminist perspective that promotes equality for all women. We contribute to the freedom and liberation of girls and women from violence and to empower our community through training and education programs. For over 35 years BWSS has been providing counselling and healing spaces for those who have experienced abuse. To help women build strength and resiliency, we work on systemic advocacy, law reform, in-class youth engagement programs and we operate a social enterprise called My Sister’s Closet in British Columbia. In addition, we support men by urging them to own their role in ending violence against girls and women.

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