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Catcalled, groped but feeling empowered, women cyclists struggle with rampant sexual harassment on roads
Cyclists tend to stand out and attract attention. This is worse for women cyclists as other road users usually perceive their bike-riding attire, such as shorts and form-fitting T-shirts, in a sexual manner.
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Women cyclists must struggle to claim their space on the streets of the capital city, but face an even more dire challenge: rampant sexual harassment and abuse. (Shutterstock/File)
I
t’s been considered cool and noble to bike to commute for the sake of the environment or health, but for women cyclists, they must not only struggle to claim their space on the streets of the capital city, but face an even more dire challenge: rampant sexual harassment and abuse.
Justitia Avila Veda, a 24-year-old woman working for an NGO in Central Jakarta, stopped commuting to work by train in January and opted to go to her office by bike instead. She said she was tired of seeing and experiencing sexual harassment in the super-crowded trains. Little did she know that she would face the same problem on the road.
“I have been sexually harassed several times on the commuter line. Last January, I saw a girl crying after a man ejaculated on her on the train and that’s when I said: Enough is enough!” she told The Jakarta Post on Monday.
Unfortunately, as she commutes to work by bike she still has to experience sexual harassment almost on a daily basis. “Almost every time I ride my bike, I am catcalled by men. Other women cyclists I know have also complained about the same thing,” she said. “Men would wink at me, whistle, or look at my body in a very degrading manner.”
The harassment did not stop at catcalling, Veda has also been physically abused by other road users. Some time ago she was groped by a motorcyclist when she was stopped at a red light in Kemang, South Jakarta. Last February, another motorcyclist pushed her from her bike for no reason, leaving her with bruises and scratches.
“I was riding my bike at about 10 p.m. in Pancoran, South Jakarta when a motorcyclist suddenly approached me and pushed me with his elbow. I fell onto a road guardrail, bruising and scratching several parts of my body,” she said, adding that she could not catch the motorcyclist as he rode away quickly.
Veda explained that since the number of cyclists in Jakarta was still low, they tend to stand out and attract attention. The case is worse for women cyclists as other road users usually perceive their bike-riding attire, such as shorts and form-fitting T-shirts, in a sexual manner.
