April 9, 2012

Standing near women now a sex crime in DC

4-9-2012 Washington DC:

The DC Metro wants its male riders to be warned: Boarding a crowded train is sexual assault.

Unfortunately, that really isn't much of an exaggeration given its new ad campaign to combat subway groping. Yes, getting your freak on with an unwilling commuter is assault, but the ads being run depict something entirely different. Take a look for yourself. (These images are from an older campaign in Boston, but are being reused in DC.)

Just look at those perverts, engaging in the age old pervy tradition of rubbing stomachs on boobs and getting off in public with hot elbow-to-elbow action.

Or, you know, look at those two guys just trying to get to school, or get home from work, and who are probably as upset about the train being crowded as you are. Yes, groping people on the train is bad, criminal even. But you know what else is bad? Portraying men as sexual predators simply because they boarded a crowded train and someone near them is a woman.

And really, is subway groping prevalent enough to warrant this?

If someone groped you while you were sitting on a park bench, you'd probably call for help. If you got groped in a crowded nightclub, you'd find a bouncer and have the creep tossed out. But on a crowded subway car, surrounded by people who will immediately put an end to any inappropriate behavior, and in an environment where your assailant has no chance to escape, we're expected to believe that women silently suffer these attacks.

No doubt it does happen. You can find every sort of weirdo imaginable on public transportation. But these ad campaigns go from trying to stop outlier perverts to informing women that if a man stands too close to you they're criminals. Good thing DC doesn't have a Stand Your Ground law. ..Source.. by Staff

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