‘Stop it!’: Japanese women turn to mobile app DigiPolice to scare off gropers on public transport
- The app now has functions including a written message asking for help that can be shown to other passengers, and a loud alarm to shame perverts
- Tokyo police say it has had nearly 240,000 downloads, while almost 1,800 cases of groping on trains or at stations were reported in 2017
The first time Mayako Shibata was groped on a congested Tokyo train, she was scared and just tried to move away. The second time one of the city’s notorious chikan – the name given to men who grope women in public – targeted her, the graduate law student did the same thing. But the third time a man touched her bottom on a rush-hour train, she decided she had had enough.
“I grabbed his hand and gave him a long hard stare,” Shibata said. “He was so taken aback, he backed away and got off at the next stop.”
Shibata, 23, says she now tries to avoid public transport in Tokyo, particularly during peak commuting hours, because men cannot be trusted to keep their hands to themselves. And while she has not yet downloaded the DigiPolice app on her phone, she’s definitely considering it.
“Anything that the police or train operators can do to stop women being targeted like this has to be worth a try,” she said. “It’s bad enough for a grown woman to have to put up with the possibility of being molested when they get on a train, but I really worry about high schoolgirls, for example, who are far less likely to speak out.”
The DigiPolice app was introduced three years ago as part of a steady stream of initiatives designed to reduce sexual assaults of women on public transport, after the likes of women-only carriages, plain-clothes police officers deployed on train lines with a reputation for attracting chikan and increased closed-circuit television coverage had failed to stamp out the problem.
Women in crowded trains and other public places in Japan often face sexual harassment, but are typically too afraid to call out for help due to a sense of embarrassment.
To help with this, DigiPolice now has a function to scare off molesters. At the touch of a button, the app displays a written message saying “There is a groper here. Please help” that can be shown to nearby passengers. With another press, the message turns red and a voice repeatedly says, “Stop it!”.
DigiPolice also includes an alarm and can notify a designated email address when it is activated – a feature that can also be used by children and their parents. Users can also locate crime-prone areas and police stations on a map.
Tokyo police say the app has been downloaded nearly 240,000 times since it was introduced, an “unusually high figure”, they say. The app still gets another 10,000 downloads each month.
The Tokyo Metropolitan Police said 2,620 sexual crimes were reported in 2017, including 1,750 cases of groping, mostly on trains or at stations. However, the actual figure of incidents is believed to be far higher as victims are often too ashamed to come forward.
Fumiko Yoshida, a 29-year-old office worker, agrees that the police initiative should be welcomed because it “gives women the feeling that they are supported and are being protected by the police at any time.”.
“I have never been molested – and I actually think that Japan is quite safe for women in comparison with many other countries – but I have heard stories of friends’ experiences,” she said.
“I feel that it’s up to me to take my own defensive measures whenever I have to use public transport. I always try to use the women-only carriages because I’m worried about chikan but also simply because I don’t want to feel closely surrounded by men.”
Anyone convicted of groping can face a prison term of up to six months or a fine of up to Ұ500,000 (US$4,565). The sentence can rise to a 10-year term if the incident involves violence or threats.
Additional reporting by Associated Press