TOKYO, Feb. 5 (Xinhua) -- A Japanese railway company will begin a trial of a newly-developed smartphone app aimed at helping combat the country's perennial problem of molesters on trains, local media reported Wednesday.
East Japan Railway, also known as JR East, plans to begin testing the app that will allow victims to inform train staff in real time that they are being groped on a train.
The app, which uses GPS, will enable victims to send an emergency signal that will alert train conductors' tablet devices as to the attacks taking place and the gropers' location.
On the app, the conductors will then alert other passengers using the app that one of their fellows is being molested and other passengers will also be warned over the trains' loudspeaker systems.
Known as "chikan" in Japan, victims, the majority being female, have long been subjected to sexual harassment and other obscene physical acts against their will by perpetrators, the majority of whom are male, exploiting the nation's overly-crowded public trains.
The victims often feel intimidated when "chikan," many of whom are seasoned molesters who carefully target their victims, and can't defend themselves or fight back for fear of creating a scene in very crowded trains, or not knowing exactly who their attacker is.
This point was reinforced by the President and CEO of East Japan Railway Yuji Fukasawa.
Fukasawa said "as it's difficult for some victims to speak out loud, JR East hopes the new app will allow those people to notify conductors who can then act promptly."
JR East said it will carry out its test of the new app on the Saikyo Line, which connects Tokyo with neighboring Saitama Prefecture and is perhaps one of the most notorious train lines for "chikans" operating, owing to the relatively longer distances between stops.
The train operator said it will examine the efficacy of the new app and gauge the response of other passengers who hear the announcement of a "chikan" attack.
Calls have been rife among female advocacy groups for train operators to do more to eradicate groping and other sexual misconduct on trains, with female-only cars being cheered at the time when they were first rolled out on some lines here more than a decade ago, but quickly criticized for only being available for certain services and at certain times, rather than on all trains, all of the time.
In addition, the groups have been calling for harsher legal measures to be taken against those caught molesting passengers, including hefty fines and custodial sentences, even for first-time offenders, to "send a message that chikans will no longer be tolerated."
