Backlash as Japanese police tweet warns women to not ride elevators alone with men

TOKYO —

On March 5 at an apartment complex in Osaka’s Naniwa Ward, a female resident of the building got on the elevator. Moments later, a man in his 30s also entered and, once the doors had closed on them, proceeded to molest the woman, groping her breast.

After the incident was reported, Osaka police tweeted a crime report on their public Twitter account, which included a warning to women in the area: “Please do not take an elevator alone with a man.”

We’ll give them the benefit of the doubt that this was meant to be a concerned, helpful tweet encouraging women to play it safe, though a number of Internet users in Japan immediately voiced their objections to the remark, including:

“It’s impossible to never end up on an elevator alone with another man.”
“Stop trying to force responsibility on the victim. If you want to ‘prevent crime’, then make announcements to help control assault.”
“Sooner or later people are going to start wanting women-only elevators.”

The final comment here is in reference to the “Women Only” train cars seen in a number of Japanese cities, which have at times become a topic of debate themselves. It is highly unlikely that we’ll be debating women-only elevators anytime soon, but it does beg the question: what can be done to prevent assaults like this, which are still happening all too frequently?

http://www.japantoday.com/category/crime/view/backlash-as-japanese-police-tweet-warns-women-to-not-ride-elevators-alone-with-men