Metro Police Combat Sexual Harassment With Outreach Program

WASHINGTON, DC — Metro Transit Police recently announced the start of an outreach program with several advocacy groups to combat sexual harassment on Metrorail trains and stations in D.C., Maryland and Virginia. This initiative is in support of Sexual Assault Awareness Month and Anti-Street Harassment Week.

Officers joined forces with "Collective Action for Safe Spaces" and "Stop Street Harassment" to raise awareness about sexual harassment, remind metro users that public transit is a safe space for every rider and encourage riders to report harassment to police.

Officers and representatives from the advocacy groups held meetings at five different metro stations during the Tuesday evening rush hour. The stations included: Gallery Place, Shaw-Howard, Rosslyn, Silver Spring and L'Enfant Plaza.

“Everyone deserves to be treated with respect and have the right to travel without being harassed or intimidated,” Metro Transit police Chief Ron Pavlik said in a statement. “We encourage anyone who feels they have been the victim of harassment to report it, regardless of whether you believe it rises to the level of a crime.”

Two indecent exposure incidents allegedly occurred in late March at the Branch Avenue Metro station and early April on a Red Line train between the Medical Center and Bethesda stations.

Reports of harassment declined by 32 percent last year, according to Metro Transit Police Department, but Pavlik says any report of harassment is "one too many."

Metro users are urged to report any act of harassment by calling Metro Transit Police at (202)962-2121, 911 or using the Transit Authority online portal.

Image via WMATA