Meeting_Body
EXECUTIVE MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE
SEPTEMBER 17, 2015
Subject/Action
SUBJECT: SAFE SPACE AND SEXUAL HARRASSMENT
ACTION: RECEIVE AND FILE
Heading
RECOMMENDATION
Title
RECEIVE AND FILE status report on providing customer safe space environments while riding Metro buses and trains.
Issue
ISSUE
In response to Board Motion 55 by Directors Garcetti, Antonovich, and Kuehl, this report presents the results of Metro's semi-annual Customer Satisfaction Survey conducted May-June, 2015 and progress making Metro a safe space without unwanted intrusion into passengers' private physical and emotional space. (Attachment A) In the past two years, Metro has conducted three surveys that included a question about sexual harassment on the bus and rail system. Metro is one of only a handful of transit agencies worldwide that regularly asks passengers about experience of sexual harassment. Independent studies of large, international transit agencies indicate that New York City is considered to have one of the safest systems for women with a sexual harassment reporting rate of 63 percent.
Findings
During the latest Customer Satisfaction Survey May-June, 2015, the on-board questionnaire asked "In the past six months, while riding on Metro, have you personally experienced any of the following types of sexual harassment? Non-Physical (comments, gestures, etc.)? Physical (unwanted touching, groping, fondling, etc.)? Indecent Exposure (exposure of private parts)? The percent of respondents who experienced any of the three types of sexual harassment was 19 percent. This response rate indicated a three percent decline from the previous survey period. For the specific subsets of harassment , the percent of respondents who answered "Yes" were as follows: Non-Physical, 19 percent; Physical, 7 percent and Indecent Exposure, 8 percent.
The survey was conducted following the launch of Metro's It's Off Limits campaign to combat sexual harassment on the bus an...
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