Labour leadership contender Jeremy Corbyn has said he would consider women-only rail carriages to help stem a rise in assaults on public transport.
Mr Corbyn says he will consult women on the suggestion.
The Independent says he will also call for a 24-hour hotline for reporting harassment and assault.
Conservative women’s minister Nicky Morgan said she was “uncomfortable” with the idea, which she said sounded like “segregation”.
And Mr Corbyn’s Labour leadership rival Yvette Cooper said it would be “turning the clock back not tackling the problem”.
“The staff needed to enforce the segregated carriages should be keeping all the carriages safe instead.”
It comes after British Transport Police (BTP) figures suggested sex offences on trains and at stations had risen by 25% to record levels.
‘Simply unacceptable’
Mr Corbyn said: “My intention would be to make public transport safer for everyone from the train platform, to the bus stop to the mode of transport itself.
“However, I would consult with women and open it up to hear their views on whether women-only carriages would be welcome – and also if piloting this at times and [on] modes of transport where harassment is reported most frequently would be of interest.”
According to the Independent, he will say it is “simply unacceptable” that many females have to adapt their daily lives to avoid being harassed in public, including while using public transport.
Tory MP Sarah Wollaston has said the women-only carriages proposal would not protect anyone.
She went on: “In countries where women are segregated on public transport, this is a marker for disempowerment, not safety.”
‘Segregate people’
Women’s minister Nicky Morgan said: “It seems to me not to tackle the issue, which is women should feel safe and free from harassment on public transport.
“It seems to say ‘let’s segregate people’, rather than tackling the issue.”
Rail minister Claire Perry suggested introducing women-only carriages in September last year. Compartments solely for females were last used on UK railways in 1977.
Countries that have introduced train carriages only for females include Mexico, Japan, India and Indonesia.
BTP recorded 1,399 sexual offences in 2014-15 in England, Scotland and Wales – up 282 on the previous year.
The force said the rise in sex crime figures was mainly because of a campaign to encourage reporting of these offences, which was launched in London in 2013 after a survey suggested that 90% of such attacks went unreported.
Labour leadership contest
- Who are the candidates? Andy Burnham, Yvette Cooper, Jeremy Corbyn, Liz Kendall
- Dates: Ballot papers were sent out on 14 August; voting can take place by post or online. They must be returned by 10 September. The result is announced on 12 September
- Who can vote? All party members, registered supporters, who signed up for £3, and affiliated supporters, who joined via a union.
- What is the voting system? The Alternative Vote system is being used, with voters asked to rank candidates in order of preference
- How does it work? If no candidate wins outright with more than 50% of first preferences, whoever is in fourth place drops out and the second preferences of their backers are reallocated to the other candidates. If there is still no winner the third placed candidate is then eliminated with their second preferences similarly reallocated. The candidate who has accumulated the most votes through the different rounds then wins.
BBC
