"I was touched on a tram, and it wasn't the first time it happened to me."
The simple title of the fight expresses the helplessness and risk of commuting to Melbourne as a woman.
An English article on The Age raises a discussion on women's safety in Melbourne
A crowded car in the morning may be just inconvenient in the eyes of ordinary men, but it is a different feeling for many female friends to have the courage to squeeze into the car.
On the night ride home, women also have to be vigilant in the eyes of women, as night commuting in Melbourne may be a matter of safety for their lives.
01. "in the past decade, all sorts of obscene things have happened on the Melbourne tram."
In this article, Devon LaSalle, who graduated from RMIT, has a rich media background and professional marketing skills and now serves at the law Center for Australian consumers.
As an excellent Melbourne woman in Australia, she faces many heterosexual injustices and threat, like most Chinese girls who come to Australia to pursue their dreams.
In this article, she slowly recounts a recent experience that has happened to herself.
My, Devon LaSalle, like 4.8 million other Melbourne residents, has to take public transport to work every morning.
I believe everyone who commutes to and from work during the rush hour knows how crowded Melbourne's buses are.
Everyone shoved themselves into the tram train, and the corners and crevices of the tram and bus were crowded until we could hardly breathe.
Funny, we may not know the names of the passengers around us, but we know what each other had for breakfast through the sound of close breathing.
For many people, our daily commutes are the worst, but for the other half, things tend to be worse.
One morning, I got on train 86 on my way to the office, crowded as usual. I pressed tightly beside the door, with two vertical poles on my chest, and I grabbed the one on the left, holding on to my body, while a well-dressed businessman beside me grabbed the other.
But as the tram began to move, I began to notice that his hand was getting closer to my breast.
It made me a little uncomfortable, but I thought he was just careless. After all, the tram was going up the hill and getting bumpy. Instead of paying attention to it, I began to think about the contents of the meeting I was going to attend that day.
Suddenly a shake pulled me back from my thoughts, for this time I felt the man's fingers slip slowly and deliberately across my nipples.
I immediately looked at the man standing on my right, the culprit.
He glanced at me with a slight smirk, then clasped his hand on the pole in front of me, right in front of my chest, as if he had just avoided falling.
I was too shocked to even speak.
I don't think I can say anything. Although I am well aware that this is a deliberate act, for anyone around us, he will feel that he ran into me because of overcrowding.
All I wanted to do right now was to stay away from him, but the tram was so crowded that I couldn't even let my body move.
The only thing I could do was keep my upper body away from his hand as far as possible, so that he could not attack me casually.
Until the train stopped, the door opened and I rushed off. Stay away from this nightmare.
Although this time Devon encountered the harassment incident came to an end.
But she also said heavily in the article that what happened to her was not an isolated event
Over the past decade, I've been traveling through a myriad of public transport trips in the city of Melbourne. I've experienced all sorts of despicable obscene things in the process.
I used to watch a man staring up and down at a woman while rubbing his crotch into a groan.
I've seen several men sitting next to an isolated young woman on train watching porn movies with voices.
When I was passing through the crowd at the station, butt was slapped in the face and an unidentified liquid was found on the back of the jeans.
I was ejaculated by a man on my clothes on a crowded train.
Recently, I was even followed by a strange man, but I can only hide to a crowded bus stop to avoid danger.
02 Melbourne "Bad Tram" 86! Driver warning: never ride alone.
For Devon, the harassment on train 86 also reminded her of the tragic experience of Aiia Maasarwe, a poor female student.
Because the female student who was killed by sexual invasion was targeted by the killer when she came home on train 86.
On January 16, Aiia Maasarwe, 21, was found dead outside the Polaris Mall near Bundoora.
She came to Australia to study, but has a wonderful relationship with China, she studied in Shanghai Jiaotong University, her father is also engaged in trade activities in China.
, Aiia Maasarwe had just finished watching a comedy show the night of the incident, returning home on train 86 around 11:00. But shortly after 12 o'clock, she was attacked by a man shortly after she got out of the car. She was talking to her sister on FaceTime video.
The next morning, around 7: 00 a.m., a morning runner found her cold body outside the Polaris Mall.
The body was close to the bus stop, less than a kilometer away from her home.
But she'll never get home.
Aiia Maasarwe's family hugged and wept.
In fact, even the drivers of the No. 86 train warned that women would never take the dangerous train alone at night.
In an interview with The Age, three trolley drivers, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said they had been worried for years that women had been travelling alone on the No. 86 train to La Trobe University or nearby student dormitories.
Once you get on train 86, the street behind station 61 is completely dark, surrounded by tall trees and closer to the notorious Bundoora park, where teenagers drink and cause trouble.
There was no lighting at the station where Aiia Maasarwe was killed. "I was always worried about the girls who got on this train at night, because it was common to see some men staring at the girls and walking around in the car," he said. Looking for young girls and sitting next to them talking. "
Another driver, who declined to give his name, also said the state police thought it was only Friday and Saturday night that there was a problem, and that on the route, as long as it was dark, it was the most dangerous moment.
Callum Missen, a 21-year-old student at La Trobe University, also told Australian media that the sad murder incident took place on the street outside his home.
He himself often takes the No. 86 Tramcar, which, according to him, is "dangerous".
"the No. 86 bus is famous for being strange and there will be a lot of weirdos on it. My female friends, including some male friends, don't take this car alone, and every time I come back from downtown, I try to avoid taking it alone."
After the case, Melbourne also picked up the bouquet of flowers, took the 86 train, at night, Aiia Maasarwe home.
For them, the Melbourne tram should be the presence of sending residents home, a companion to a trip, and now an accomplice in the loss of life for a girl, which would be a permanent scar on the city.
03 Melbourne is no longer a safe tram? In the morning is the clothed beast, the evening is the rape and kill killer. How do you save yourself?
At the end of the article, Devon LaSalle also sadly said that Aiia Maasarwe's death resonated with many female friends in Melbourne.
How many people face the same experience, but they just don't want to say it?
How many people understand that a loud cry for help may lead to killing and danger?
According to The Age, the risk of sexual crime on Victoria's buses has soared by 60% in three years, and more than 1/3 Victorians are unable to feel safe using public transport at night.
This article has caused numerous reprints and discussions on fb, and many people have left messages to share their experiences or see how to deal with such things on the bus.
I've seen a lot of men, harassment, and I'll keep an eye on them to make sure they know I see him doing bad things. This can be done at a considerable distance and useful because they know that someone will look at it and they will shrink.
Speak out loud! I didn't give you any permission to touch my body! I am someone else's mother, other people's sister, other people's wife, I do not allow you to touch me!
I was touched once, and I turned and punched him in the face. He was shocked and denied, but the people in the car looked at him, which would make him ashamed.
At the end of the article, Devon LaSalle also calls on all women (and even male friends) not to digest in their hearts what is unreasonable about themselves.
Tell your partner, siblings, parents, grandparents and friends that they will support you. You will also be surprised how many people have experienced the same thing, and when we have the courage to talk about our experience, we will also have the courage to resist abuse and harassment, and no longer need to be loathed and lonely because of these things.
Conclusion of 04 edito
In Australia, Melbourne, we all rely on urban public transport to move, and I believe many friends have witnessed events such as sexual harassment and even experienced similar pain in these days. But as Devon said in the article, she uses her experiences to try to awaken women (and even men) to the sovereignty of her body and to defend her courage to protect herself.
When the courage to stop, Melbourne people will not turn a blind eye to help. We also remind you to go out at night to avoid being alone, to be alert to the environment and suspicious people around, to seek assistance or to provide assistance in the event of a situation, after all, disregard is the biggest accomplice to the criminal.