Public transport sex assaults more than doubled in past five years, but more victims are speaking out
Public transport sex assaults have more than doubled in the past five years, with Victoria’s top transit cop giving insight into the “cunning” methods used to target women. But they’re fighting back, with assault reports from brave women skyrocketing. HOW SAFE IS YOUR STATION? FIND OUT HERE.
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Public transport sex assault reports have skyrocketed as brave women call out their predators.
Victoria’s top transit cop gave insight into the “cunning” methods used to target women, as new figures show sexual assaults on trains, trams and buses have more than doubled over the past five years.
Victims have shone the light on their attackers, including a university student who was sexually harassed by four men when she was just 13.
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The women hope by speaking out they will help prevent further attacks, and encourage victims to come forward.
Crime Statistics Agency data has revealed the number of sexual assault offences on public transport jumped 131 per cent in five years, from 45 in 2013-14 to 104 in 2017-18.
Victoria Police Transit Safety Detective Inspector Andrew Gustke said more women are coming forward to report assaults but that many were still going unreported.
He revealed the majority of sex offences occur in broad daylight on peak hour services but that offenders are also known to target lone victims on empty carriages.
Insp Gustke said offenders are mostly males aged between 15 — 60, and victims are largely women of all ages.
They target public transport because it's a cheap and “target rich” environment, he said.
CCTV surveillance has shown sexual deviants passing up quiet train or tram services in favour of busy ones, where they go on to offend.
Mobile phone technology has also emerged as a new method used by predators to menace women.
Some have began using Airdrop to send inappropriate material including images of genitalia.
Insp Gustke said sexual offenders’ biggest fear is being identified and labelled, and that it is incredibly important for passengers to speak up if they see someone in trouble.
“These people want to blend in and become anonymous,” he said.
“They manouever themselves to where females are in crowded spaces.
“We want to encourage other commuters to come to their rescue … the behaviour you walk past is the behaviour you accept.
“If you see something, please say something.”
The entire public transport network is surveilled by about 900 CCTV cameras, which are monitored 24/7 to help Protective Service Officers track down and arrest creeps as soon as they offend.
Insp Gustke warned offenders: “You are being watched and you will be caught.”
Monash University student Isabella Lo Sordo, 19, was coming home alone from the beach when she was surrounded by four men who sexually harassed her at Chelsea station.
The aspiring doctor, who was 13 at the time, said they made comments on her breasts, and followed her onto the train where one took her phone to add himself to her Facebook account.
The man later made sexually inappropriate comments on her pictures.
“It made me feel subhuman,” she said.
“I didn’t have the confidence to ask them to leave me alone or get up and sit somewhere else.
“It’s important to report incidents because it’s going to keep someone else safe and prevent another girl from experiencing that.”
Another student, Moriah Garcia, 21, also opened up about her traumatic experience in the hope it strengthens others to do the same.
In February a man came behind her and rubbed his groin against her backside on a packed Cranbourne train.
“It’s made me feel really unsafe,” she said.
“We need to speak up to send a clear message that this is without question unacceptable.”
A team of 10 detectives formed to tackle the issue in December last year are currently reaching out to international students, after research revealed women from different cultures have a “higher tolerance” for sexually inappropriate behaviour and may not be reporting incidents.
In September PSOs began patrolling trains to deter crime across the network.
They are based at every metropolitan station from 6pm to the last train.
Public Transport Victoria CEO Jeroen Weimar said: “Any form of sexual offence is totally unacceptable and we will not tolerate it.”
“We work very closely with Victoria Police to help reduce incidents, identify offenders and increase awareness of the many safety features across the network.”
The data also shows non-sexual assaults increased across the public transport network over the past five years.
There were 173 serious assaults and 372 common assaults last year, up from 148 and 199 in 2013-14, respectively.
HELP FIND THESE MEN
MANHUNT FOR SEXUAL PREDATOR AFTER TRAM ASSAULT
A gold-toothed creep who sexually assaulted a young woman on her way to a Pink concert is at the centre of a police manhunt.
The man cornered the 23-year-old university student on tram Route 70 with family about 7pm on July 25.
He looked into her face and said: “I am sorry I am so close, the tram is so busy.”
He later repositioned himself behind her and began grinding his lower half on her body.
The assault lasted about three minutes but she said it felt more like three hours.
“I felt trapped. I tried to subtly move my body so he wouldn’t notice but he kept moving with me and thrusting,” she said.
“The movements started to become more severe. I just froze.”
A female stranger came to her aid, yelling: “You need to move” after seeing her in distress.
The man immediately exited the tram at the William Barracks stop.
Detectives want the public’s help to find the predator, who watched the woman at the tram stop and failed to board earlier, quieter trams headed in the same direction.
A man police want to speak with is described as being aged in his 60s, tall with dark skin and distinctive gold-plated teeth.
The victim said she sought professional help after the traumatic incident.
She is determined to reach out to other women to encourage them to speak up.
“We need to take back the power. If we don’t report it, it’s going to continue to happen. We need to stop them before their behaviour escalates,” she said.
Mother of three Jill Perrett, 49, also spoke out after she was sexually assaulted and followed between Thornbury and Flagstaff train station early on May 16.
Every time she moved away from her offender on the train, he followed and when confronted at Flagstaff, he said: “give me a lap dance” before walking away.
In July she said: “Enough is enough: any behaviour to women, any time of the day, anywhere, is not acceptable — we’ve got to call out these creeps.”
A man police want to speak to is of Islander or Asian appearance, 20-25-years-old, approximately 160cm tall slim build and a thin moustache and was wearing a navy New York Yankees baseball cap, navy baseball style jacket with white sleeves and beige pants.
Police are also appealing for a man of subcontinental appearance after a woman was sexually assaulted on a Route 901 bus from Dandenong station about 9.50am on February 7.
The man exited at Knox City Shopping Centre.
Police also want to speak to a man described as South American in appearance and aged in his 20s or 30s in relation to allegedly touching a woman inappropriately on a train, before exiting at Hallam station about 8.50am on April 13.
He was wearing a brown coloured long sleeve top, a backwards facing cap and beige pants.
Anyone with information is urged to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.
@AneekaSimonis
TOP 5 WORST TRAIN STATIONS FOR ASSAULTS
(July 2017 — June 2018)
1. Flinders Street (132)
2. Southern Cross (94)
3. Dandenong (46)
4. Ringwood (18)
5. Footscray (18)
ALL STATIONS — 775
ASSAULT AND RELATED OFFENCES
(2013-15 to 2017-18 comparison)
Serious assault — 148 — 173 (up 16.9%)
Common assault — 199 — 372 (up 86.9%)
Sexual assault — 45 — 104 (up 131%)
8am — 4pm is the most common time for public transport sex assaults