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The Tokyo Metropolitan Police on Monday launched a major campaign to eradicate groping on trains, amid a number of increasing grope-and-run incidents in the capital.
The campaign, which runs from June 6 until June 16, aims at raising awareness of the gravity of the assault and calling passengers to vocally speak out in case they experience or witness a groper, known in Japanese as chikan (痴漢), Fuji TV reported. The campaign also urges men accused of groping not to try and escape by jumping onto the train tracks.
According to police, since March, there have been at least eight cases in the Kanto region in which accused gropers jumped onto the tracks to escape. In mid-May, a man accused of groping a woman aboard a train was hit and killed by a train at Aobadai Station in Yokohama, Kanagawa Prefecture, after he jumped onto the tracks, attempting to get away.
“Our mission is to thoroughly implement and strengthen policies to prevent groping on trains,” Hiroshi Takada, head of the Marunouchi Police Station, said.
During the 12-day campaign, the police will cooperate with 19 Kanto area-based railway companies, including JR East Japan, Tobu Railway, Odakyu Railway and other major train companies, to distribute leaflets, promote the campaign through posters, in-train announcements, related events and increased patrols.
Rakugo storyteller Pikkari Shunputei launched the campaign at Tokyo Station.
22 Comments
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pacint
India has a low ratio on cameras thus groping and gang rapes are rare, I guess.
Aly Rustom
eradicate groping on trains? That's quite an endeavor. And in just 10 days? By a manga? Forgive me if I'm a little skeptical...
Swift_Justice
I know several lawyers here and they all say the same thing. Quite shocking coming from the American system.
John-San
Sometime I wonder how many of these cases are just pressure form the crowd and the women are over reacting. Like those cars are super jam pack during peck. Often I have assisted in pushing the crowded door way so the doors can close. To grope of person is really perverted. You would have to be, for groping to get you off.
Strangerland
I used to know a lawyer here one time, and she said her goal was not getting her clients a not-guilty verdict, it ws to get them the least punishment possible.
Make it hard to have any confidence in the justice system here, and is likely why you have few lawyers saying not to run.
sakurasuki
Without explaining what is more proper way this situation and how they will end up once the follow that proper way.
Advise to run once you got false accused it's been awhile since 2013 so by now lot of people might think that's the only thing they can do when they got panicked.
http://president.jp/articles/-/9332 (Japanese source)
The problem is no other lawyers say it is a bad advise or even give a better advise, given on how justice system in here.
There is another tips from a lawyer, is not to run but try to leave the spot by giving contact information so you can reachable later. It's pretty tricky, since the false accused person might be restrain by station staff not to go anywhere.
Nippori Nick
Perhaps they need a mascot for this campaign? I suggest Tako-san as the name,
katsu78
No, not "lawyers". "Lawyer". Singular. As in "a single lawyer."
Certain men on JT have taken a colorful, tabloid-quality story from a single lawyer who may have gotten an innocent man killed with his dubious advice to run from a chikan accusation, and mis-remembered it as the status quo legal advice in Japan. Probably because it feeds into their paranoia that women are out to get them with false sexual assault accusations, while also not requiring them to actually do any kind of research to see how often that actually happens.
koiwaicoffee
Useless campaign, as usual. There are several cultural and educational aspects that cause this problem, and nobody cares/want to change these.
Swift_Justice
Incorrect:
Swift_Justice
I'm not an engineer, but I am fairly certain the math is off.
A ten-day campaign will do nothing to stop griping when it is culturally acceptable as evidenced through widely consumed manga, anime, pink salons, etc. As is all too often the situation, form matters more than substance.
Another issue that feeds into the problem of groping is men battering women on the trains and at stations. I have stopped three different "men" from battering women. The first guy was intentionally elbowing women in the face as they exited the train. The second guy was intentionally slamming his shoulder into women whilst he was headed towards the ticket gates. The third guy was kicking women's feet/legs on the train.
Until women are universally respected, they will be viewed as objects to use however "men" deem fit.
Jonathan Prin
So if a victim is groped, she should not shout and it should be another person ??? Wtf !
This will lead to monstruous false accusations.
sensei258
To be fair, they should also launch a campaign to eliminate false groping accusations on trains.
mgwilder
Is a ten day campign really enough?
Rik314
There have been at least two versions of this poster, both in the same manga style, and a few others around for the past number of years. Didn't help much. Maybe get some medieval stocks out and a couple of baskets of rotten tomatoes out the from of some major stations for some offenders. I don't think we can blame it on the Chileans....
Sam Watters
Make a least three separate cars---2 for women and 1 for men--- and chikan will drop significantly.
Thunderbird2
Manga looks very 90s.
goldorak
That's a pretty cool poster!
Having said that not sure about its effectiveness to prevent or even eradicate groping and other 'chikan' behaviour on trains. Personally I think it trivialises the act itself but hopefully that's just me and most would-be gropers will see it differently.
jcapan
Pretty fitting that they use manga actually. Google manga-groping-train-Japan, or substitute porn for manga and be prepared to scroll thru a ton of images. Or if you read Japanese Google search for GoGo Dentetsu, a network of 8 pink salons in Kansai that allows customers to feel up young women on mock trains. Too bad police aren't interested in targeting this industry.
Zed Phillips
Layers actually tell men to do a runner because the attitude of J Pol on gropers is guilty, even if proven innocent. Until J Pol balance accusations which can be life damaging to the accused are properly investigated doing a runner is the best defence.
Kaerimashita
nothing like an anime campaign to root out socially unacceptable (at least for now) behavior.
I want to see the one exhorting men not to do a runner.