The South China Morning Post reports that one in three (the story actually starts ‘More than a third of…’) women has been a victim of what it terms ‘sex crimes’ on Hong Kong’s MTR system. The Standard determines that the figure is one in four (‘A quarter…’). At least the SCMP gives its singular subject the appropriate verb form. Well done.
The papers appear to be reporting two different-but-maybe-not surveys – sort of a parallel-universe thing, maybe. In the SCMP, the Rape Crisis Centre polled 533 people, and found only 10% of victims sought help, and three screamed loudly; in the Standard, the Association Concerning Sexual Violence Against Women surveyed 537 people and found that no victims went to police or MTR staff, but 2% yelled.
The ‘sex crimes’ are mostly undefined indecent assault or taking photos up skirts, with a dash of indecent exposure. Given the crowding on our mass transit system, every passenger has probably been accidentally brushed up against or rubbed or (what really freaks me out) breathed upon. You have to wonder how many of the 
perceived assaults were conscious and deliberate. But who am I to say? Just because feminist groups accidentally happen to distribute their questionnaires among the more neurotic and histrionic segment of local womanhood, it doesn’t mean the MTR isn’t crawling with weird guys who get off on grabbing passing buttocks.
The Standard refers to the up-skirt photographs as ‘secret snapshots’ – which raises the obvious question about how, if it’s a secret, victims would know. The SCMP refers to it as ‘invasive photography’, for which the Crisis Rape people’s proposed remedy is, obviously, more surveillance cameras.
The surreptitious taking of photos up women’s skirts is so bizarre you have to wonder who the victim really is. We are talking about some sort of mental disease here, probably originally from Japan; maybe in time the tragic cameramen metamorphose into hikikomori. (Why don’t they do some serious creepy subway snapshots like these?)
The SCMP adds that the Rape Crisis Centre is also worried about areas beneath glass elevators becoming ‘black spots for perverts’ and doesn’t like the idea of women-only train carriages because women should not be perceived as weak [so jab the pervs’ eyes out!] and men and transsexuals are also victims. I’m sure they do some fine work, but maybe they should rename themselves the Rape and Anything Else We Can Think About Crisis Centre?
The biggest mystery to me, even more than the guys with cameras on sticks, is the appearance of two identical-but-different surveys, by two very similar-sounding organizations, one in each newspaper, at the same time. They do say that if you understand quantum physics, you haven’t studied it properly. And could there be a parallel universe where women who have a big hang-up about men seeing their legs don’t wear very short skirts?
They like it really.
I once asked a social worker from the Harmony House refuge for women (and men) sitting in bed with me, what 1000 battered women have in common…
“They… just…won’t………LISTEN!”
Then there is the old lady who goes to to the police station to report being groped in 1952.
“It’s 2012 now darling. I don’t think there’s much chance of catching the culprit,” the sergeant says.
“Yes., I know… but I like talking about it.”
Every one a gem!
It’s just the language which has undergone about 200% inflation since the understated UK-ese of a generation ago. All harassment is sexual, even when it’s not; nearly everything is a crime these days, as distinct from a felony/misdemeanour/offence; indecent assault seems to vary from a brief touch to forced oral sex; even brushing buttocks with an air-hostess can be taken the wrong way.
I don’t think you’ll get very far with the notion of provocative dress, with the implied message that it is in some way asking for it, if only because political correctness ultimately frowns on any sort of approach of women by men.
Incidentally I prefer one in three HAVE.
Trying to read and re-read the hikikomori thingy – operative words “pulling inward, being confined”, “acute social withdrawal”, “the phenomenon of reclusive.” ok, ok… Being a lay pschologist and Chinese scholar (wakakaka), does this mean that the amateur upskirt guy’s real angle is all about anatomy? Chinese philosophy – “when I say my ‘little’ brother means yes he is real, real small.”
But seriously, grabbing stuff that doesn’t belong to you on trains is rude and a problem short of being sick irrespective of “its” size. But worst is the growing number of rapes happening – girl walks home after party, school girl returning to flat, taxi driver trying to have his way with passenger, tycoon massaging taxi driver, woman gets killed in one room brothel….
Our boys & gals in blue should spend more time policing and keeping the reputation we have as a safe city and catching those sob’s (or preventing some of these stuff happening) then spending time trying to figure how to control protestors practically every other day.
Go figure!
From memory the stats gathered by the police in a three month peruod involved some 135 people being arrested for up skirt photos , mainly in areas like CWB and Mongkok. Interestingly it seemed Mainlanders featured prominently though in general the crime rate for NEC visitors to HK is twice that of our Mainland cousins. Thus perhaps the papers are stretching things a little. As to the dress issue, I spoke with a young female employee lately laughing at some of the usual winter fashions , you know a triangle of fur misplaced etc . She said well, you noticed them, isn’t that their intention ? I think this us what Hemmers is also saying.
I just love it…. I mean the irony of it all …( and of course the other thing )
🙂
HK girls go out dressed in the most promiscuous possible short skirts or short shorts ( which I personally dote on – shows their ass to perfection). Or this very latest male-mind-blowing fad : black tights and ultra short skirts / barely more than a long T-shirt. WOW !
And do they expect HK guys NOT to take notice and slip a few I-phone snaps ?
Lech Lech lech .
Bullshit.
I call this male harassment ( aka solicitation) and demand male-only carriages and buses . Women only admitted if in full Saudi-Arabian/ Afghanistan burkha . ( praise the lord for burkhas !)
Damn the female sex : they only want to get us by the balls so it’s heads ( our ‘heads’ ) they win / tails ( their ‘tails’) we lose.
( Love it ! That’s the way God made u)
Actually ( love it ) : “women rule OK” and since when has it ever been different from Adam till now ? OK bible-bashers : just trace the promiscuous history of the OT : they all fell for the female attraction, from Adam to Abraham to David and Solomon. Seems they had not yet invented brush-out in history to the same degree that we have in Photoshop, so we get all the gory details. Some chapters from the OT books of Kings and Chronicles would do well in today’s Penthouse as hot porn.
Times have not changed . Only that skirts and shorts get shorter so us guys get hornier … even on the MTR
Help !
Earlier this year I had a few months of travelling from Tsimsy to Central at morning rush hour. You choose your line carefully getting behind those who look at though they’ve showered this morning. Not pleasant and thank heavens for the screen doors.
But what happens from 2015 when the hordes from Hung Hom and Ho Man Tin join the heavily over crowded Nathan Road Corridor? If I remember correctly it’s 2019 before the Shatin to Central link comes on line. Is this another example of piss poor planning / prioritizing?
But hey rejoice we have fast train to a Guangzhou suburb, bridge to Macao and it’s lovely to see the Ground-scraper taking shape in Central.
Most of the contributors to this thread need to attend compulsory gender awareness and sensitivity training. Women are NOT to be objectified, do you hear!
…fast train to a Guangzhou suburb…
I wish you people would stop criticizing the fast train to Guangzhou. For those of us who have to travel to the West Bank of the Pearl River on a regular basis that thing is a God-sent.
Traveling to, from and in China -and that includes the “Lo Wu Torture” – is as as unpleasant as it gets, even on a sunny day. This new link will alleviate a lot of suffering. So there.
Not to sound prudish, but those lingerie ads lining the MTR tunnels featuring nearly-naked babes would be enough to push any borderline perv right over the edge.
Liberal progressivism, in the interests of fairness, equality and justice surrounds us with swathes of laws and rules, and punishes breaches of its ideology with severe sanctions applied unfairly, inequitably and often unjustly.
Secret upskirt photography is deplorable and extremely insensitive to the emotional well-being subject. What if someone photographed you in your underwear without giving you fair warning to allow you to make sure you’re wearing the latest in Hello Kitty lingerie? You find snapshots of your everyday Kerokeropi pants all over the web before you know it! The shame …
The survey is probably exaggerated or flawed. I find it hard to believe that 1/3 of women in HK – as pretty much everyone rides the MTR at some stage – have been groped, flashed at or the subject of an “up-skirt” photo. So, skepticism at the alarmism of the reports is warranted. And, yes, accidental contact can happen on the MTR when its crowded and some may interpret that too readily as wilful contact. But, leaving that aside, what a bunch of trogolodytes some of the contributors to this comment forum are. Maybe they’re sad, past their use-by-date losers who a decent looking girl wouldn’t waste a minute on. What a lot of troglodytes on this comment forum. The state of a woman’s dress is never an invitation to being indecently assaulted, having their privacy invaded or being flashed at. And I don’t find it humorous either. Neither might you if it were your girlfriend, wife, sister or daughter who was the victim. If a woman were online, I suspect you’d be abused more rudely than this. Be grateful that some attractive women do dress provocatively. You’re the visual beneficiary. You get the visual thrill and the fantasies. It’s not licence to touch or act like a dick though. If you cross the line and are caught and convicted, you’ll likely end up on a sex offender’s register too. Something to think about.
Greetings Colonel
You might like to Google the word ‘prig’. I don’t think anyone on this thread was actually anticipating ‘crossing the line’ as you put it.
Relax; you’ll have a better day if you do.
@PropertyDeveloper
…”air hostess…” LMFAO. Those airlines still flying? Wonder if they’re still using DC-3s. You keep brushing buttocks with “air hostesses” and one fine day someone will brush your face a few dozen times. Accident you see. My fist slipped. Twelve times. Terribly sorry.
@Real Hot pants Lover
Spoken like a real perv. I recall something a Korean business associate once told me over drinks… blah blah blah… “Women who wear short skirts want men to touch them…” You morons should hook up.
“I call this male harassment…”
You have it all backwards man. “Male harassment” is when someone pounds your face to mush. “My sincerest apologies your honor. You see, I have impulse control issues. I sometimes see a smirking face somewhere and suddenly a little voice in my head whispers “Men Who Wear Filthy Smirks Want Their Faces To Be Smashed.”
Girls in short skirts aren’t the only ones being protected by our very generous and “liberal” laws.
A very well-intended but slightly naive young law enforcement type once attempted to lecture me on the virtues of the uniformed services by repeating the stale “thin blue line” routine. “Without the police, society would fall into chaos. Armed thugs would run rampant.”
“No my dear sir. Actually, it’s the police keeping the armed thugs in business. Without your benevolent presence, we’d simply hang them all and be done with it.”
Darovia – I understand sarcasm and humour. I disapprove of political corrctness for it’s own sake and of Andrea Dworkin and her ilk. But I don’t like misogyny and can spot when it mascarades as “humour”. Maybe “darkie” and “kyke” jokes are still funny too and we should lighten up about that as well? “Hemlock” often has a point with his sarcasm and spoofing of the sillier aspects of HK culture, but I never see him cross the line into racism or misogyny. I think he knows the difference. I’m not sure some (not all) of the gaggle of commentators understand that difference.
On the matter of the grammar, Hemmers has a point and @ PropertyDeveloper may have one too—though you might have to consult Geoffrey Pullum on that. Mainly, though, the SCMP copy editors have (as usual) managed to confuse the issue. Look at the typeface: The headline announces, “I in 3 women falls victim to sex crime on MTR, poll says”. That suggests that “I” (the first person singular, i.e., Stuart Lau) and not “1” (the cardinal number) fell victim to sex crime on the MTR. Perhaps the SCMP (or Stuart Lau) meant (note commas and tense), “I, in 3 women, have fallen victim to sex crime on MTR, poll says”. Wasn’t he lucky (or unlucky, depending on your point of view a la the previous posters)?
Most women I know are (a) not hysterical and (b) have been the target of some perv in public. It’s a lot more common than most man appreciate and massively underreported as most women just put up with the intolerable. Attitudes like those in these comments are common and don’t encourage much reporting when the onus of proof starts with skirt length.
It takes a large amount of understanding to imagine a life where you know the average member of the opposite sex could, if they chose to, rape you in a secluded venue because of physical strength.
I’d rather live in a society where these sorts of claims are taken seriously rather than dismissed contemptuously.
willard, As you say, you do seem to have certain impulse control issues, a definite violent streak. DAB?
I never met a broad yet that didn’t understand a slap in the face, or a slug from a ’45….
Dame, not Broad. Sorry, Humphrey.
http://bitsandpieces.us/2011/04/05/the-golden-age-of-broad-smacking/