Transportation professionals' visions of transit sexual assault: The problem of deproblematizing beliefs

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Abstract

This study examines planners’ views of transit sexual assault in two transit systems where sexual assault is widespread, but little action has been taken: TransMilenio Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) system in Bogotá and Soacha, Colombia and informal transit in El Alto, Bolivia. In both cases, many planners lack information about transit sexual assault in their city, and the agencies do not systematically measure its frequency. Additionally, planners’ views of transit sexual assault are shaped by five widespread deproblematizing beliefs: (1) victims of sexual assault on transit are often mistaken or lying; (2) groping and sexual rubbing do not seriously harm victims; (3) victims brought the attack on themselves; (4) assault is natural and unchangeable; and (5) planners should not be responsible for addressing sexual assault because they did not create the problem.

These beliefs, which were more common among male planners, pose a significant barrier to action because they support an attitude that sexual assault on transit is not a problem to which planners should devote resources; either there is no problem to solve or attempting to solve it is so difficult as to be futile. Additionally, deproblematizing beliefs reduce openness to new data about transit sexual assault. The belief that women are likely to mistake innocent actions for sexual assault renders some planners dismissive of survey data based on the self reports of (ostensibly) unreliable narrators.

The results indicate that in the long term, a gender mainstreaming approach that includes training for planners is needed. In the short term, one critical task is to convince reluctant reformers that transit sexual assault is a problem on which planners can and should take action.

Introduction

Sexual assault and harassment on public transit are common in cities around the world (e.g. Ceccato and Paz, 2017, Bhatt et al., 2015, Clark et al., 2016, Stringer, 2007). Despite growing evidence that common forms of assault such as groping and sexual rubbing have a measurable adverse impact on victims’ mobility and wellbeing (Gardner et al., 2017, Horii and Burgess, 2012, Clark et al., 2016, Kash, 2019a), many planners view it as a nuisance crime; transit sexual assault remains unaddressed in many cities (Clark et al., 2016, Ball and Wesson, 2017, Loukaitou-Sideris and Fink, 2009).

This study examines views of transit sexual assault in two transit systems where sexual assault is widespread, but little action has been taken: TransMilenio Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) system in Bogotá and Soacha, Colombia and informal transit in El Alto, Bolivia. In both cases, I find that planners’ and transit users’ views of transit sexual assault are shaped by five widespread deproblematizing beliefs: (1) victims of sexual assault on transit are often mistaken or lying; (2) groping and sexual rubbing do not seriously harm victims; (3) victims brought the attack on themselves; (4) assault is natural and unchangeable; and (5) planners should not be responsible for addressing sexual assault because they did not create the problem. Deproblematizing beliefs were more common among men than women.

While the frequency of deproblematizing beliefs was similar between transit planners and transit users of eacfh gender, this study focuses primarily on planners’ perspectives because planners have greater capacity to affect the operations of the transit system. Deproblematizing beliefs pose a significant barrier to action because they support an attitude that sexual assault on transit is not a problem to which planners should devote resources; either there is no problem to solve or attempting to solve it is so difficult as to be futile.

Most planners interviewed had no special training in gender, so it is entirely understandable that they shared many of transit users’ misconceptions about the frequency, causes, and effects of transit sexual assault. However, regardless of intentions, when planners decline to take action to protect transit users from unsafe conditions, we leave transit users, particularly women, in harm’s way. Evidence-based approaches to addressing transit sexual assault are available (e.g. Bhatt et al., 2015, Ceccato and Paz, 2017, Lea et al., 2017). However, practicing planners will not adopt these solutions unless we believe there is a problem to fix.

Planners must learn to reevaluate beliefs about transit sexual assault and discard views that are incompatible with the evidence. I argue that the most effective long-term solution is a comprehensive gender mainstreaming approach that includes training and capacity-building for planners (EOSOC, 2014). In the short term, to convince reluctant reformers to take action, it is critical to examine how to provide planners with high-quality data and ensure that they find the information credible. I find that the belief that women cannot distinguish between normal and inappropriate contact inspires skepticism of statistically representative survey data based on (allegedly) unreliable self-reports. It is therefore especially important to address the widespread but unsupported belief that false reports, intentional or otherwise, are common. In actuality, the empirical consensus is that transit sexual assault is underreported (Ceccato and Paz, 2017, Stringer, 2007, Tudela Rivadeneyra et al., 2015).

This article begins with a discussion of how gender affects transportation, followed by a brief introduction to gender mainstreaming. I then review the literature on transit sexual assault, and provide background on the cases. I define the elements of planners’ visions that will be analyzed, paying particular attention to the technocratic (rational) planning paradigm. The concepts used to analyze planners’ views. After reviewing the study methods, the five deproblematizing beliefs are described and their prevalence among planners and transit users is discussed. I then focus on how those beliefs are expressed by planners, who have greater influence over the transit system than do transit users. I examine ways in which the deproblematizing beliefs are incompatible with available evidence and describe how each belief justifies inaction on the issue of transit sexual assault. I discuss how deproblematizing beliefs can override technocratic planners’ usual preference for quantitative data to render them resistant to new information. I find that even among planners who believe that transit sexual assault is a problem, the genderblind frame through which many view the problem leads them to favor ineffective policy approaches that ignore the salience of gender (Loukaitou-Sideris and Fink, 2009, Criado-Perez, 2019). I conclude by discussing the wider applicability of these findings and policy implications.

Section snippets

Gender and transportation

Women’s transportation needs and travel behavior are, on average, different than men’s (Loukaitou-Sideris, 2016, Taylor et al., 2015). There is substantial evidence that basing decisions around the transportation needs of an “average” person without taking these differences into account frequently results in worse outcomes for women (Loukaitou-Sideris, 2016, Fainstein and Servon, 2005, Criado-Perez, 2019). For example, most vehicle safety tests are conducted using a crash test dummy designed to

Methods

This paper discusses phase II of a two-part study. Data collection for the two phases was conducted concurrently, and analysis was conducted sequentially. As described in Section 2.3, Phase I, which focused on transit users, found that transit sexual assault was common in both case cities, and that it harmed victims by restricting their mobility and/or resulting in trauma symptoms such as hypervigilance when taking transit (Kash, 2019a).

Phase II analysis focused on two broad questions: (1) How

Results

As shown in Fig. 2, among both transit planners and transit users, the majority of men and a minority of women interviewed expressed one or more deproblematizing beliefs. Many respondents expressed a contradictory mix of deproblematizing beliefs and more sympathetic beliefs about assault victims. Attitudes were split primarily along gender lines rather than by occupation. The deproblematizing beliefs expressed by the men interviewed tended to be more numerous and, in some cases, more extreme as

Deproblematizing beliefs in the context of technocratic planning

“Numbers are fundamental.” -Henry

Most planners interviewed are committed to the technocratic ideal of addressing social problems by applying empirical knowledge (Kash, 2019b, Irwin, 1995). While the technocratic paradigm devalues ‘anecdotal’ evidence (including victim reports), this faith in ‘hard’ data seems to leave an opening for convincing planners to prioritize addressing transit sexual assault: many of the deproblematizing beliefs about sexual assault are empirically false, and this can

Gendered and genderblind frames

The deproblematizing beliefs described above led a number of planners interviewed to frame transit sexual assault as a non-problem. Among respondents who did view sexual assault as a problem, two main frames were observed: a gendered feminist framing of sexual assault as a form of violence against women in public space, and a genderblind analysis that positions sexual as a quality of service issue.

The feminist frame defines assault on transit as a form of violence against women in public space.

Discussion

In both cases studied, transit sexual assault was revealed to be common and disproportionately harmful to female transit users, particularly victims of sexual assault. In both cases, most male planners’ Visions of transit sexual assault were starkly at odds with those of the women they are charged with keeping safe. At best, male planners viewed sexual assault as a problem that required gender-neutral programs, which have been proven not to adequately address the problem (Loukaitou-Sideris and

Conclusion

This paper finds that while transit sexual assault is a palpable presence that colors many women’s daily experience, many planners in both cities studied did not view transit sexual assault as a problem in need of action. Planners’ perspectives are sharply at odds with those of female users, particularly sexual assault victims, who suffer measurable harm due to insecure transit.

I identify five widespread deproblematizing beliefs that encourage planners to envision transit sexual assault as a

Financial disclosure

This work was supported by the Lee Schipper Memorial Scholarship, the World Resources Institute Ross Center for Sustainable Cities, and the Van Huyck Fellowship from the Department of City and Regional Planning at UNC Chapel Hill. The Secretaría de Movilidad Urbana Sostenible (SMMUS) of El Alto and TRANSMILENIO S.A. provided in-kind support for data collection.

CRediT authorship contribution statement

Gwen Kash: Conceptualization, Methodology, Formal analysis.

Declaration of Competing Interest

None.

Acknowledgments

The author would like to thank Daniel Rodriguez, Dario Hidalgo, Nichola Lowe, Nina Martin, Raleigh McCoy, Noreen McDonald, Paul Mihas, Ramon Muñoz-Raskin, Holger Dalkmann, Sam Zimmerman. Thanks also to the staffs of SMMUS, TRANSMILENIO S.A., the Secretariats of Mobility in Bogotá and Soacha, Colombia, and the volunteer leadership of the Federación de Juntas Vecinales of El Alto, Bolivia. Finally, thank you to the transit users who shared their time and experiences.

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