A bus designated only for women has sparked off controversy since it started running in Zhengzhou, the provincial capital of Henan Province, on Tuesday.
With a red sign on the bus reading, “Only for Women”, the bus was set up on the city’s route 906, which is usually burdened with a high volume of passengers every day. According to the Bus Transport Corporation of Zhengzhou, the maximum number of passengers the bus route has ever carried reached up to 30,000 in a single day.
In order to avoid female patrons being harassed, the bus company decided to offer a special service to women during the peak hours in the summer, when a bus is only accessible to female passengers.
Although the bus corporation arranged a bus to closely follow the “women-only bus” rule, trying not to affect male passengers, some passengers still frowned upon the measure.
“Very few men would harass women in public, like on a bus. The bus corporation made a fuss over it. [This measure] will lead men to be humiliated,” Mr. Li, a passenger, told the local daily Dahe Daily.
A video has also been circulated online showing a male senior yelling at the driver of the women-only bus and claiming it was discrimination against the male.
However, some male passengers agreed with the bus company and understood the intention of this kind of service after listening to the explanation.
Recently, there have been a growing number of cases related to sexual harassment in public, especially on public transportation. A survey done by China Youth Daily in 2012 shows that 81.9% respondents thought sexual harassment in a subway train occurred. However, it has been called into question as to if public transportation should separate a space only for women.
