LOS ANGELES (AP) – Aiming to combat sexual harassment on public transportation, the Los Angeles Metropolitan Transportation Authority unveiled an around-the-clock counseling hotline Wednesday to provide support to riders who experience unwanted sexual advances.
The launch of the “It’s Off Limits” hotline is part of a campaign encouraging riders to report sexual harassment after a 2015 survey of 20,000 riders found one in 14 passengers reported being fondled or groped aboard Metro trains and buses.
“There is no excuse and never an invitation to sexually harass. Riding the bus to work is not an invitation; waiting for the bus at a bus shelter is not an invitation; a crowded subway car is not an excuse,” said Patti Giggans, the executive director of Peace Over Violence, the nonprofit group that will staff the confidential counseling hotline.
The hotline will connect callers with counselors and give them the option of reporting the incident to law enforcement. While Metro CEO Phil Washington said passengers should “absolutely” report the encounter to police before phoning the hotline, Giggans says some people may need emotional support before they can recount the incident.
“If they need that moral support, that psychological support, they want to talk about it, they want to unload it and debrief, they should call the hotline,” she said. “Telling someone when you’re victimized is a really important thing to do.”