Wednesday, June 17, 2009

Slam CTA Harassment with Poetry

The Rogers Park Young Women's Action Team who battle street abuse has now turned its attention towards harassment on the CTA.

"They surveyed 639 CTA riders, mostly young women, and found that harassment on CTA buses and trains is pretty common. Just over half of those surveyed said they'd been sexually harassed on the CTA. Thirteen percent said they'd been sexually assaulted. Of those who had been harassed or assaulted, 91 percent said they didn't file a complaint with the police or the CTA. The transit agency had two recorded incidents of criminal sexual assault systemwide for all of last year."


To reach more people and push for improvements, the women's group is planning a poetry slam on sexual harassment on the CTA, to be held from 2 to 4 p.m. June 27 at Berger Park, 6206 N. Sheridan.


They also hope to meet with the CTA's board within the next month to talk about ways to improve safety -- and help women deal with unwanted attention.

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