A SURVEY ON OPINIONS TOWARDS SEXUAL HARASSMENT ON BANGKOK’S PUBLIC

Abstract

Sexual harassment has become one of the emerging social problems increasing in numbers in Thai society, as appeared through all kinds of media, including televisions, newspapers, radio, and electronic media. However, it is observed that some people still do not recognize the significance of this problem because they do not a deep understanding about it, and are inclined to consider that it is just a personal issue. That is why no serious approach is being taken to prevent and find appropriate solutions to sexual harassment. At present, rapes and sexual harassment happen not only with women but also with men and LGBT persons. Public transports have become a high-risk location, where sexual harassment can take place due to its closed and crowded conditions, which facilitate the conduct of sexual harassment. The purpose of this study was to identify causes, behaviours and encountering processes after being victims from sexual harassment on Bangkok’s Public Transport. This study has been certified by the Committee for Research Ethics (Social Sciences) (MUSSIRB) on 24 January 2019, with no. 2019/199.

This analytical cross-sectional study is conducted with 1,654 people in total, who are both male and female living in Bangkok. These people are passengers of public transports; bus operated by BMTA, as well as the private sector, motorcycle taxi, BTS (on the ground train system), minibus, van taxi, MRT (subway system), car taxi, boat taxi, Grab cars, Airport Rail Link, Uber cars, planes, and railway. Data collection involved using questionnaires which were developed and checked in terms of content validity by three specialists as well as being testified with Cronbach’s coefficient alpha of 0.888. Frequency distribution and percentage were used to analyse data. The result of this study showed that 44.7% of females reported they had been sexually harassed on public transport. Traditional taxis were public transport systems that were at the highest risk to passengers from sexual harassment (55.6%). Subjects also said reported they had been subject to individuals looking at pornographic images and films (45.4%). Respondents said offenders took advantage of congestion during rush hour to commit acts of sexual harassment on public transport (30.9%) and Bangkok’s Public Transport was crowded by 52.5%. The attacks could be visual was the most sexual harassment behaviour (18.8%) followed by verbal or whistling tease 13.9%. Encountering processes after being victims from sexual harassment, respondents chose to remain silent or walk away (23.0%), asking for help was the most common processes that using to encounter the situation (16.6%). After facing the situations, the subjects thought that they must notify to related agencies (45.3%), consulted with friends and family (32.2%) and post this situation on to the internet (22.4%).

 Based on the results of this survey, it reflects that, while essential approaches are being moved forwards to support the equal rights between men and women, the issue about gender inequality continues to be observed significantly in the Thai society. Therefore, it is necessary to apply social measures to improve laws related to sexual harassment in the future, and for passengers of public transports in Bangkok, especially women and LGBT persons, to learn skills in appropriately managing sexual harassment and be aware of various forms and causes of this issue under the complex contexts of public transportation.