KAJANG: Despite continued instances of men intruding into women's coaches, authorities would first focus on advocacy rather than strict law enforcement to inculcate a culture of respecting women.
Transport minister Anthony Loke said the ministry is looking into whether they have the power to impose penalties for passengers failing to adhere to the women-only rule.
Currently, he said, they are in the advocacy stage where the operators, Prasarana Malaysia Berhad and Rapid Rail Sdn Bhd, would station auxiliary police to remove male passengers in the women's coach.
"Some male passengers might be ignorant and they don't know (that they should not be in the women's coach). Prasarana and Rapid Rail will ask the auxiliary police to remove them and for them to use other coaches.
"So, these are the actions we're taking right now. However, Prasarana is also discussing with the Land Public Transport Agency to strengthen our regulations and look into whether we have the power to impose penalties.
"But that's not what we are advocating right now. We want the community to voluntarily adhere to the rules and not because they are afraid of penalties," he said after launching the Kajang MRT Line Women's Coach, here, today.
Loke added that the objective is to nurture a societal culture where men willingly observe and respect these regulations.
He said since the introduction of the women's coach pilot project on the Kajang MRT Line on Sept 18, there has been a significant decline in reported cases of sexual harassment.
Loke noted that in the first quarter of this year, there were 8 reported cases, followed by 11 cases in the second quarter, 8 in the third quarter, and so far, only 3 cases have been reported in the fourth quarter.
"We take every report of sexual harassment seriously. For us, even one case cannot be compromised because sexual harassment is completely unacceptable, especially in public transportation," he said.
In addition to introducing more women-only coaches, Prasarana has bolstered other safety measures within the station.
This includes stationing trained auxiliary police in stations and increasing lighting across the station premises to ensure improved visibility especially during nighttime.
"We aim to upgrade stations in terms of lighting, especially from the station to the parking lot and the park-and-ride facilities.
"One crucial aspect we focus on is maintaining well-maintained lights throughout the station for better visibility at night. These are some of the measures we take to ensure women's safety," he said.