Subway groping arrests on the rise

By Donnell Alexander . Posted June 27, 2006.

The New York Times is reporting that the NYPD announced an increase in the numbers of arrests for subway groping and flashing -- 13 in total for the last week. As the Times points out, whenever a story like this gets published, the women who ride public transportation daily (especially subways) all over the world nod in unison, remember their own experiences.

The Times asks the question:

What is the right way to react to a humiliating, but not life-threatening, situation? Should you announce to an entire car of strangers that you have just been violated?

Most of the time, the women said, they seethe inwardly but say nothing.

What is the right answer, here? A friend of mine once stood up after a man groped her breast three times on the subway, and announced to everyone on the car that he'd done it. For the next few stops, she warned every woman who tried to sit in her former seat that the man was a groper and dangerous, until the man finally got up and left the train. But not every situation calls for that approach, especially if you're alone on the train or in an otherwise more precarious position.

              

Deanna Zandt is a contributing editor at AlterNet.

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