Meeting_Body
EXECUTIVE MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE
FEBRUARY 18, 2016
Subject/Action
SUBJECT: SAFE SPACE AND SEXUAL HARASSMENT
ACTION: RECEIVE AND FILE
Heading
RECOMMENDATION
Title
RECEIVE AND FILE the quarterly status report on Metro's sexual harassment campaign and preview of fall 2015 Customer Satisfaction Survey.
Issue
ISSUE
Metro is continuing with a ground breaking campaign against sexual harassment called "It's Off Limits." The campaign was launched on April 1, 2015 and updated on October 1, 2015. Advertisements are in place on buses and rail cars across the system. The fall 2014 Customer Satisfaction Survey found that 22 percent of respondents answered "yes" to the question "in the past six months, while riding on Metro, have you personally experienced unwanted sexual contact including, but not limited to, comments, touching and exposure." As a result of the unacceptably high percentage of riders affirming their exposure to sexual harassment, Metro formed a high-level, cross-departmental task force with representatives of Mayor Garcetti and Supervisors Antonovich and Kuehl. The "It's Off Limits" campaign resulted in a decline of reported incidents of sexual harassment from the fall 2014 to the spring 2015 survey from 22 percent to 19 percent. To double down on the successful campaign, Metro's Sexual Harassment Awareness task force updated messaging with a call to action of "Speak Up" and re-launched "It's Off Limits" with a press conference on October 15, 2015. Metro is one of only a handful of transit agencies worldwide that regularly asks passengers about experiences 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.
Discussion
DISCUSSION
Results
Metro is successful in placing the issue of sexual harassment awareness before riders and the public at large in ...
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