Most incidents of sexual harassment and secret photography in Taipei’s MRT metropolitan railway system over the past five years occurred at three stations, the Rapid Transit Division of the Taipei City Police Department said in a statement yesterday.
Most incidents were recorded at Zhongxiao-Fuxing MRT Station, followed by Taipei Main and Zhongxiao-Dunhua MRT stations, the department said, adding that the results were obtained through big data analysis.
The system, which serves Taipei and New Taipei City, handles about 2.2 million passengers per day, and most cases of secret photography and sexual harassment — usually involving touching a victims buttocks or chest — occurred at crowded stations, it said.
Photo courtesy of Taipei City Police Department’s Rapid Transit Division
The analysis found that most perpetrators strike in train carriages or on escalators, while those who take photos without consent usually operate at the entrance or exit of a station, or on escalators.
Most sexual harassment incidents occurred during the morning rush hour from 6am to 10am, while offenses against privacy were more likely from 6pm to 10pm, metro police said.
In response to the findings, patrols have been reinforced at 16 sexual harassment and secret photography hot spots, and more effort has been made to establish a database of repeat offenders, it said.
Thanks to those efforts, the metro police in March arrested a man surnamed Chien (簡) on charges of sexual harassment at MRT stations, metro police said.
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