Public transit is all too often the site of harassment, but few of us know what to do when we experience or witness this behavior. As part of our Sexual Assault Awareness Month and International Anti-Street Harassment Week activities, CASS partnered up with Stop Street Harassment and Metro Transit Police earlier this week to flyer Metro stations throughout the DC region and bring awareness to the issue.

“Transit riders deserve to be treated with respect while accessing DC’s public transit system,” CASS Deputy Director Chantal Coudoux said. “Yet, according to a 2016 study done by WMATA, Stop Street Harassment and Collective Action for Safe Spaces, 21% of DC transit riders have experienced some form of sexual harassment.”

Since the 2016 study, CASS and Stop Street Harassment have continued to work with WMATA to raise awareness of harassment on the Metro and encourage people to speak up and report incidents. Now, we’re pleased to report that a 2018 follow-up to this survey shows our hard work is paying off, with increased levels of campaign awareness and more people reporting harassment.

Coudoux said: “We are excited to see that based on the 2018 follow-up survey, the rate of reporting has increased because of knowledge from the public awareness campaign. Reporting harassment is important because it allows us to understand the problem in more depth in order to come up with solutions that help build a safer transit system and public spaces broadly.”

Of course, the work doesn’t stop here. This effort supports WMATA’s broader efforts to deter and end harassment, including adding new tools for reporting incidents and continued public awareness campaign. At CASS, we know this also must be coupled with equipping people with the tools to intervene before harassment escalates. It takes us all working together to create safe spaces where we can navigate our daily lives.  

Been harassed on the metro? Report incidents online at wmata.com/harassment or by email to harassment@wmata.com. Report it to Metro Transit Police by calling 202-962-2121 or text MyMTPD (696873). Want to share your experience with harassment? Submit your story to CASS.