Following several attacks on women in public transport in recent days, a petition is circulating on the internet in France calling for specific carriages reserved for women—and possibly children—on suburban trains and metros. It has already gathered several thousand signatures. The initiative may seem commendable: isn’t it a matter of protecting the most vulnerable, as in the days when society looked after widows and orphans? But those promoting this new initiative, convinced that they have found the ultimate remedy for rape and sexual assault and quick to stigmatise the evil male, are determined to ignore the root causes of female passengers’ unease.
The petition was launched on the initiative of a female passenger and was addressed to the company that manages the Paris region’s transport network, Ile-de-France Mobilités, following the announcement of a new attempted rape on the RER regional train in Val-de-Marne, in eastern Paris. In just a few days, it has already gathered more than 13,000 signatures, and the number continues to climb.
Online, there are numerous testimonials from young girls and women who say they do not feel safe on public transport. “When I’m in a carriage with only men, I’m on my guard and I turn down the music. I just keep my eyes peeled, turn down the music and stay hyper-vigilant because you never know,” says young Camille on RMC.
In a carriage “with only men”—is that really the problem?
Advocates of single-sex carriages like to point out that the principle already exists in other seemingly civilised countries, such as Japan, and that one can never be too careful in the company of predatory males. But this instinctive mistrust of supposedly toxic masculinity actually hides a different kind of blindness: the attackers may be men, but they are primarily immigrants.
MEP Marion Maréchal points out this sad fact: “83% of victims of sexual violence on public transport in the Île-de-France region are French, while 61% of those accused of these crimes are foreigners. The problem is not men; the problem is mass immigration.”
On the Right, several voices are being raised to denounce the apparent ease of sexual segregation—because that is what it is all about. Giving in to the convenient option of introducing single-sex carriages will only provide an apparent and temporary solution, without addressing the root of the problem. What is more, such a practice will introduce sexual discrimination that is completely contrary to the French spirit and, more broadly, to European civilisation.
In France, as Jean-Yves Le Gallou, founder of the Polemia think tank, points out, the Pleven law has prohibited all forms of discrimination—whether religious, ethnic or sexual—since 1972. If carriages were to be reserved for white people, as in the days of segregation or apartheid, politically correct society would cry scandal. In the name of what should a form of sexual discrimination, carriages reserved for women, reappear and be adorned with all the virtues?
But there is something more serious. Attacks on women are mainly carried out by passengers who are certainly male but, above all, come from cultures that have made contempt for women a principle and sexual assault a common practice. By introducing reserved carriages, French society would paradoxically end up giving in to the unspoken demands of these communities, which see women as opportunities for sin that must be removed from the lustful gaze of men, as influencer Damien Rieu sums up in this cruelly laconic formula:
- Import Islamic populations en masse
- Demand Islamic laws to contain the uncivilised behaviour of these populations.
Securing—apparently—the carriages is only a stopgap measure. The measure will offer temporary respite to women, who will be able to travel with a little more peace of mind. But after two or three stops, they will get off at a platform in a station where the nightmare could start again. Will it be necessary to segregate the metro corridors to prolong their ‘experience of safety’? Once back in the open air, female passengers will once again feel fear in their stomachs on the street, even if well-meaning left-wing politicians argue for wider pavements and brighter streetlights so that they no longer fear returning home. For them, the solution is always material, never human, and certainly not spiritual.
The Taliban, it is true, have found the ultimate solution. Women no longer leave their homes. That way, we can authentically be sure they are safe. Let us hope that we will not have to resort to such extremes.
Women-Only Carriages: A Fake Solution
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Following several attacks on women in public transport in recent days, a petition is circulating on the internet in France calling for specific carriages reserved for women—and possibly children—on suburban trains and metros. It has already gathered several thousand signatures. The initiative may seem commendable: isn’t it a matter of protecting the most vulnerable, as in the days when society looked after widows and orphans? But those promoting this new initiative, convinced that they have found the ultimate remedy for rape and sexual assault and quick to stigmatise the evil male, are determined to ignore the root causes of female passengers’ unease.
The petition was launched on the initiative of a female passenger and was addressed to the company that manages the Paris region’s transport network, Ile-de-France Mobilités, following the announcement of a new attempted rape on the RER regional train in Val-de-Marne, in eastern Paris. In just a few days, it has already gathered more than 13,000 signatures, and the number continues to climb.
Online, there are numerous testimonials from young girls and women who say they do not feel safe on public transport. “When I’m in a carriage with only men, I’m on my guard and I turn down the music. I just keep my eyes peeled, turn down the music and stay hyper-vigilant because you never know,” says young Camille on RMC.
In a carriage “with only men”—is that really the problem?
Advocates of single-sex carriages like to point out that the principle already exists in other seemingly civilised countries, such as Japan, and that one can never be too careful in the company of predatory males. But this instinctive mistrust of supposedly toxic masculinity actually hides a different kind of blindness: the attackers may be men, but they are primarily immigrants.
MEP Marion Maréchal points out this sad fact: “83% of victims of sexual violence on public transport in the Île-de-France region are French, while 61% of those accused of these crimes are foreigners. The problem is not men; the problem is mass immigration.”
On the Right, several voices are being raised to denounce the apparent ease of sexual segregation—because that is what it is all about. Giving in to the convenient option of introducing single-sex carriages will only provide an apparent and temporary solution, without addressing the root of the problem. What is more, such a practice will introduce sexual discrimination that is completely contrary to the French spirit and, more broadly, to European civilisation.
In France, as Jean-Yves Le Gallou, founder of the Polemia think tank, points out, the Pleven law has prohibited all forms of discrimination—whether religious, ethnic or sexual—since 1972. If carriages were to be reserved for white people, as in the days of segregation or apartheid, politically correct society would cry scandal. In the name of what should a form of sexual discrimination, carriages reserved for women, reappear and be adorned with all the virtues?
But there is something more serious. Attacks on women are mainly carried out by passengers who are certainly male but, above all, come from cultures that have made contempt for women a principle and sexual assault a common practice. By introducing reserved carriages, French society would paradoxically end up giving in to the unspoken demands of these communities, which see women as opportunities for sin that must be removed from the lustful gaze of men, as influencer Damien Rieu sums up in this cruelly laconic formula:
Securing—apparently—the carriages is only a stopgap measure. The measure will offer temporary respite to women, who will be able to travel with a little more peace of mind. But after two or three stops, they will get off at a platform in a station where the nightmare could start again. Will it be necessary to segregate the metro corridors to prolong their ‘experience of safety’? Once back in the open air, female passengers will once again feel fear in their stomachs on the street, even if well-meaning left-wing politicians argue for wider pavements and brighter streetlights so that they no longer fear returning home. For them, the solution is always material, never human, and certainly not spiritual.
The Taliban, it is true, have found the ultimate solution. Women no longer leave their homes. That way, we can authentically be sure they are safe. Let us hope that we will not have to resort to such extremes.
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