Schockierendes Verhalten bei Belästigungen im Zug, das sich in Japan immer weiter radikalisiert: Sich gegen eine Frau verbünden und „ihre Unterwäsche herunterziehen“ und „ihre Hände in ihre Kleidung stecken“

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>**Why is the current situation of molestation that happens daily goes left unchecked?**

>Although molestation regularly becomes a social problem, no serious measures are taken and many women continue to be victimized. In particular, the JR Saikyo Line, which is said to be one of the most crowded in Japan, has seen a string of molestation victimizations over several decades.

>Although countermeasures such as public announcements in stations and on trains, installation of women-only trains, and security cameras on trains have been taken, they seem to be largely ineffective.

>In fact, when this reporter boarded the Saikyo Line commuter rapid train (bound for Kawagoe) No. 1 at 18:16 on a weekday, the reporter saw a man placing the back of his hand on a woman’s buttocks, a man dressed as a woman exposing his chest and reaching for the lower body of a man around him.

>Why does the current situation of rampant molestation continue to be left unchecked? It seems that circumstances unique to the Saikyo Line have created a situation where it is unchecked:

>”The Saikyo Line is extremely crowded with commuter rapid trains departing in the mornings and evenings, and the first car in particular has a high boarding rate because it is close to the stairs to the platform at terminal stations such as Shinjuku and Ikebukuro. This makes it easier for molesters to target them.

>It is also difficult for the female victims to speak up because they think it is it is impossible to resist due to the crowded nature of the train. Even when those around them catch the man who has molested a woman, the victim would sometimes respond, ‘I don’t know if I was really molested or not, so I am dumbfounded'”. (National newspaper report)

>When I have actually boarded the train, I have found that there is almost no space between people, and the bodies naturally come into close contact with the surroundings. From the point of view of those who engage in molestation or exposure, it is easy to target and difficult to be detected.

>Mr. H, who has used the Saikyo Line to commute to work for several decades and is wary of molesters when he sees them, describes the current situation as follows:

>“On the Saikyo Line, I think there are more molesters who target victims from the get-go rather than those who are suddenly given into temptation. They follow women in revealing clothes on station platforms, or cut in line to get on a train near women who appear timid.

>Some of them organize fellow molesters on Internet bulletin boards and surround a woman with multiple people, pulling down her underwear and sticking their hands inside her clothes. Most of the molesters are men in their 30s or 40s, and even when they are captured and turned in to the station staff, they somehow return and continue molesting women again.

>According to the White Paper on Crime published by the Ministry of Justice in 2003, the recidivism rate for molestation is 44.7%, which is higher than for other sex crimes, but this figure is probably due to the fact that it is easy to molest and difficult to be caught.

Unfortunately, these “chikan” offences are still widespread in cities such as Tokyo. Although, as the article notes, there are now “women only” carriages in rush hour, the sheer numbers and crowding of carriages makes it difficult to police.

Also, frustratingly, police often don’t seem to take such offences really seriously, even though it’s sexual assault.

When my wife was at high school in Tokyo, a chikan actually cut a square of fabric out of the back of her school uniform skirt while she was on the train and she didn’t realise until she got off the train and a member of the station staff alerted her to the fact that her underwear was visible through a large square hole in the back of her uniform.

She went to the police, but they didn’t seem interested or concerned and basically tried to brush her off until her father turned up. Once a man started talking to them, they made a report of the incident. However, unsurprisingly, the perpetrator was never identified.