HCM CITY — HCM City has launched 26 orange buses with the aim of raising public awareness about the sexual harassment of women and children.

The campaign is part of the Action Month for Gender Equality and prevention of gender-based violence and the 16-day global campaign on ending violence against women and girls.

According to the municipal Department of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs, the report “Safe cities for women and girls” showed that 18.5 per cent of women have been sexually abused while 11.7 per cent of men admitted to sexual harassment against women and girls in public places in the past 12 months. 

Eighty-seven per cent of the women in Hà Nội and HCM City who participated in another survey conducted by Action Aid Vietnam in 2014 said that they had been harassed in public.

Together with the orange buses, the city also organised activities to raise public awareness of empowering women and highlight the importance of ending gender discrimination and preventing sexual harassment. The goal is to build gender-sensitive economic policies to ensure women and girls can fully tap their potentials and enjoy fair opportunities.

Hà Lê Ân, deputy director of the HCM City Public Traffic Management Centre, said 26 orange buses have been in operation since November 28. The buses will run the Lê Hồng Phong Street-Việt Nam National University, HCM City route.

Messages about gender equality and sexual harassment are printed on the buses. 

The bus stops in District 1 have also been painted orange with slogans demanding better awareness of the issue.

Over recent years, the municipal Management and Operation Centre for Public Transport has improved infrastructure and service quality to ensure safety for women and girls on its 12 bus routes, and installed cameras on more than 2,300 buses to limit sexual harassment against commuters. 

Statistics from the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism’s Family Department showed that 64 women and 10 children suffered from domestic violence each day from 2011 to 2015. Among 157,859 domestic violence cases during the period, women victims aged 16 to 59 accounted for 74.24 per cent. — VNS