Prosecutions are rare as no Colombian law tackles the sexual abuse of women on public transport
BOGOTA (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - A leading Colombian lawmaker is pushing for a tough new law to tackle sexual harassment on buses in Bogota after a survey found the Colombian capital had the most dangerous public transport in the world for women.
The recent survey by the Thomson Reuters Foundation of 15 of the world's largest capitals and New York showed women in Bogota feel the most unsafe using public transport, especially when travelling on buses at night.
The poll also found that Bogota women had little confidence that police would investigate reports of groping or other abuses on public transport, with nearly six in every 10 women in the city saying they had been verbally or physically abused on buses.
Senator Antonio Guerra de la Espriella is spearheading a new bill that would make sexual harassment on public transport a specific and defined crime, carrying a prison sentence of two to four years.
"The results of this survey have been very useful because they lead us to confirm that we need to act by putting forward a law to build confidence among users of public transport, especially women ..." he told the Thomson Reuters Foundation in a recent interview at his office in the Colombian Congress.
Few of those who sexually abuse women on public transport in Bogota - and in other cities across Colombia - are prosecuted and jailed because there are no laws that specifically address this type of crime, he said.
Women in Bogota say they face daily threats on public transport ranging from lewd remarks and groping to sexual assaults, with men rubbing up against them and taking photos up their skirts, and that not enough is done to ensure their safety.
A spate of sexual assaults on women in Bogota's red bus system, known as TransMilenio, has made headline news in recent months, adding to the sense of insecurity women feel.
"Women need to feel the government is responding and that they are supported by state institutions and the law so that crimes of sexual harassment on public transport are reported," Guerra de la Espriella said.
Bogota and two other Latin American capitals - Mexico City, and Lima in Peru - were named as the three capitals with the least safe transport for women, in the poll of more than 6,500 women and gender and city planning experts.
(Editing by Tim Pearce)
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