Trigger Warning: This article contains information about sexual assault.
From our morning commutes to campus to our late night adventures into downtown, riding a TransLink bus or getting on the SkyTrain is an experience we all know well. TransLink lets us get around Greater Vancouver quickly and efficiently – but sometimes this comes at a cost (and I’m not talking about the monetary kind). The unfortunate reality is that sexual and gender harassment, primarily aimed at self-identifying women frequently occurs on TransLink – and people are speaking out about it. The blogsite Harassment on Translink features a compilation of stories detailing personal experiences of gender/sexual harassment on transit. Back in March of this year, an anonymous poster on the Facebook page UBC Confessions wrote that they had witnessed a female commuter on the SkyTrain being sexually harassed by a man standing beside her. The poster wrote that they notified the police once leaving the train and wanted to let the commuter know, if she saw the post, that she could choose to press charges.
What steps can you take if you experience or witness an incident of sexual assault on TransLink and wish to seek help and report it? Publicly confronting the perpetrator isn’t always the easiest or most comfortable step. For many of us, the feeling of shock, embarrassment or fear may keep us from reacting at all. How can we seek help if we want to do so discretely? What if we are too afraid to report the incident while it was occurring, but want to report it afterwards? HCUBC spoke with Media Liaison Officer for Transit Police Anne Drennan about the different options available for reaching out for help and reporting incidents of sexual assault on TransLink.
Sexual assault level 1 covers a range of circumstance, including physical violation by any degree of sexual nature
The fastest, most effective, and most discrete way to report an incident of sexual assault while it is happening in real time, according to Drennan, is using the Text Code. The Text Code (87-77-77) immediately initiates a texting dialogue between you and the Transit Police communication center. In this conversation, you can let the communication center know what is happening, where it’s happening, which bus/train you’re on and what stop you were just at so that the center can deploy help. Whether you yourself are experiencing the harassment or you are witnessing the incident, anyone can use the Text Code to reach out for help. Because texting is such a normal activity nowadays and no one suspects anything, Drennan says this is a safe and effective method if you want to reach out for help, without the perpetrator knowing.
Using the Text Code is not the only way to report an incident of sexual assault in real time, however. If you feel comfortable to do so, calling 9-1-1 or the Transit Police number (604-515-8300) is also an effective way for getting into contact with help immediately. Calling 9-1-1 or Transit Police is an appropriate course of action for all levels of assault. But what if you don’t have your cell phone, or you feel like you can’t text or call?
If you are on a TransLink bus, Drennan strongly recommends notifying the bus operator at the first possible opportunity. With an intercom that connects them straight to the communication center, the bus operator can reach out to the necessary resources. Even if you can’t get to the operator while the incident is occurring, or the perpetrator has already left the bus, Drennan still recommends speaking with the operator. If you let the bus operator know that an incident had occurred, the operator can place a call to intercom and let them know to seize the video on the bus for the appropriate time frame. Drennan stresses that this is an important first step to making sure the video isn’t lost. Having video evidence greatly helps the investigation by showing what happened and getting a picture of the suspect. Drennan notes that no matter when the incident is reported, Transit Police will always attempt to get a video of the incident, but letting the bus operator know right away is the most effective way of getting quick access to the footage.
If you are on the SkyTrain and you don’t have service or access to a cell phone, pressing the yellow strip, also known as the passenger silent alarm, located on every window in the train is another way to get assistance. Once pressed, the yellow strip triggers an alarm and notifies help. When you get to the next station, Transit Police or a SkyTrain/Canada Line Attendant will be there to assist you. If you are on the platform of the train and need help, there are also designated safe areas with a phone which puts you through to the communication center and the police department.
Finally, even if you’ve made it all the way home and still wish to report the incident, you can! The Transit Police number and the Text Code are still viable options for you to use. Once you report the incident through one of these means, the communication center will link you up with a police officer in order to get a statement.
Reported by MetroNews, this ad was pulled from Skytrains after complaints of victim shaming from 20+ people in 2014
Although this article does not address the underlying causes for why gender/sexual harassment and sexual assault persist on public transit (or the rest of the world for that matter) I hope that this article is a helpful tool for knowing what steps you can take to report an incident of sexual assault on TransLink. Knowing that there are resources to help you is the first step to combating the silence of sexual assault, because one of the biggest problems surrounding this issue is the cultural unwillingness and personal inability, often due to emotional distress, to talk about it. So next time you feel uncomfortable on the bus, or witness something that doesn’t seem right, and you feel able and safe to do so – speak up.
Note to readers: While this article mainly deals with sexual assault, sexual or other forms of public harassment (usually defined as an attack without physical contact) should also be reported through the channels listed above.