A hoard of angry tweets. ‘WomenOnlyCarriages’ trends throughout the UK twittersphere. Liz Kendall exits her cave along with other spectators of the Labour leadership competition to gawp at this unfathomable circumstance; a politician has actually listened to voters. Revolutionary stuff. This is the trainwreck that is British politics.
Jeremy Corbyn has always been painted as ‘the controversial one’ in the Labour Leadership campaign’ as proved by his comments on gender segregated carriages in order to decrease cases of assault on public transport which sparked a discussion between Corbyn supporters and Corbyn haters alike. Those against the idea suggest that ‘women only carriages’ would be victim blaming, outdated and would provide a dangerous environment in society where it is expected for men to be untrustworthy abusers and women to be the vulnerable victims of patriarchy. There are also obvious complications when it comes to transgender or genderfluid people. Nobody should be forced to take a certain carriage because of the way they are perceived by the general public rather than who they choose to identify as. Arguably the most progressive way of dealing with with a women based issue such as assault on public transportation should be to start with the perpetrators- of any gender- and seek to prevent these attacks through education.
Recent studies and YouGov polls reveal that more than a third of women are sexually harassed on the London Underground and 90% of cases go unreported perhaps due to a lack of education on what sexual assault actually is. What is the difference between flirting and a derogatory catcall? ‘Trying your luck’ and harassment? Consent is usually the answer, and according to many studies it is often men more than women who just don’t seem to understand this concept. It’s not that male human beings are inherently abusive, infact sex doesn’t come into the equation- it is men being the product of patriarchy that allows us to see such a clear divide in gender when it comes to this issue. Although, it must be noted that 9% of men experience sexual harassment in their lifetime which further proves that the problem does not actually lie with the male sex, it’s the way sex and gender is received in society.
So what really happened when Corbyn considered this seemingly obsolete and unprogressive idea? He actually listened to women led consultation on a women based issue and thought he would open up the idea to find out other women’s opinions on it, only to receive a not so positive response. Despite the idea being somewhat penalised, Corbyn should be applauded for actually taking on the opinions of the electorate, especially the voice of women who are too often ignored by politicians. The hysteria caused by this is a harrowing insight into the poor relationship between politicians and people. ‘Us and Them’, a frightening concept that disengages the people from politics allowing corruption and personal gain to thrive.
If you replace neat answers and slick rhetoric with a willingness to listen and tactfully create progression, you get Jeremy Corbyn. The spark of this debate left the mark that Corbyn, unlike so many, understands the need for transparent discourse between politicians and the electorate, regardless of the carriages they sit in.
Words by Lizzy Fox