Sexual harassers on Jakarta trains face lifelong ban; rail company mulls more women-only carriages

JAKARTA: Perpetrators of sexual harassment on Jakarta metropolitan area’s main rail transport network will now get a lifetime ban from the trains, following several reports of inappropriate behaviour. 

Railway company Kereta Commuter Indonesia (KCI) is also considering increasing the number of female-only carriages. 

On Sunday (Sep 8) KCI announced the blacklisting of perpetrators in a bid to tackle sexual harassment on the Greater Jakarta commuter rail, known as the KRL Commuter Line Jabodetabek.

Jabodetabek refers to the city of Jakarta and its neighbouring suburbs of Bogor, Depok, Tangerang and Bekasi.

More than 1.1 million passengers rely on the network daily to travel an area with a population of around 32 million people, including the city of Jakarta as well as its neighbouring suburbs.

According to KCI’s data from January to August 2024, officers attended to 30 sexual harassment cases both in the station and aboard the trains.

In addition, 13 reports were received via social media in the same period.

In the latest case, in July 2024, a man caught on the Bogor-Jakarta Kota route was found with seven video recordings of his victim on his mobile phone.

A KCI representative on Sunday said the firm sanction is expected to provide a deterrent effect on other perpetrators of sexual harassment and prevent similar incidents from happening in the future.

“The perpetrator’s data will be monitored through our CCTV analytics system,” said KCI VP corporate secretary Joni Martinus, as quoted by local broadcaster Liputan 6.

“So, when the perpetrator tries to board the KRL again, he will not be able to because it has been recorded in our control centre,” Mr Joni added.

KCI has installed 762 surveillance cameras spread across 82 stations throughout the rail network, KCI’s operations and marketing director Broer Rizal told Antara news agency on Sep 2 on Sunday.

Mr Joni also appealed to victims and witnesses of sexual harassment acts not to hesitate to report the crime.

“If there is a report, we can anticipate and arrest the perpetrators to then take further action,” he said.

KCI is also evaluating the possibility of increasing the number of special women’s carriages (KKW) from the current two carriages per train, which would require adjustments to the composition of the train, Mr Joni added.

“Currently, the KKW carriages are at the very front and back of the train, and we will continue to evaluate this,” he said in his statement to local media outlet Disway.