I have been molested by men on trains. But single sex carriages are not the answer

As Germany brings in women-only rail coaches after migrant attacks...

PICTURE the scene. You’re at London’s Euston Station ready to take the train, let’s say, to Manchester. You’ ve booked your ticket in advance, as you would for a flight.

Security demands that only those with pre-booked tickets, whose names and addresses are lodged with the train company, will be allowed to travel.

You pass through security where your bag is checked while your every move is recorded on camera.

Up to this point, passengers of the opposite sex have progressed together through the crush and onto the crowded platform, as your train approaches.

Suddenly, guards armed with machine guns start dividing up the crowd. ‘Ladies, this way, please,’ one of them orders.

After a few brief goodbyes between family members, the women are escorted to the front of the train, to their own exclusive carriage, closest to where the train manager sits, while the men are herded to the back. No one dares to challenge the order.

A dystopian fantasy land, you might think, or maybe something that could occur in Saudi Arabia, where women are not allowed to drive, travel without a male relative or show any part of their face or body in public.

Never could it happen in a Western democracy where equal rights for men and women to move freely and independently without fear of harm are enshrined in the law.

OK, maybe the armed guards were taking it a bit far . . . but this scene could be played out in Germany, where one regional train operator, running between Leipzig and Chemnitz, has decided to introduce women- only carriages at the front of the train next to the guard — and consequently, closer to help.

The move is reported to have been prompted by fears of sexual attacks by migrants, following the outrage caused by the mass sex attacks on women during New Year’s Eve celebrations in Cologne.

A thousand complaints were made to police that night, with the vast majority said to have been perpetrated by immigrants.

The train company’s decision to introduce women- only carriages came only a few days after the first accused man was charged.

He is said to be 26, is of Algerian origin and was the ring leader of a group of ten men. But are womenonly carriages a good idea?

LET’Sget the race question out of the way. Any woman who’s travelled on a train, bus or Tube knows sexual harassment is not confined to men who have come from countries where a woman’s right to travel without fear is not part of their culture.

I’ve been around for a long time and travel regularly on every form of public transport. Everyday sexism is something that’s happened to most of us at some time or another, and the offender who rubs up too close, pinches your bottom, nudges your breast, puts his hand up your skirt or makes a lewd suggestion might be black, brown or white and of any class.

My worst experiences as a young woman were carried out by smartly dressed, white, wellspoken businessmen.

I was 17 and on my way to meet my parents who were working in Turkey when I fell asleep on the flight.

I woke to find the respectable Englishman, who’d treated me with the care he would have given his own daughter as we’d settled into our seats, had covered both of us with his blanket and his fingers were progressing towards my knickers. I slapped his hand away, but never told anyone.

On my first trip alone to London from Barnsley in 1971 — travelling by train for an interview with the BBC — I was 21, wearing a fashionably short skirt and feeling apprehensive.

A very kind, plump, middle-aged Yorkshireman joined me in the carriage, offered to lift my case onto t he l uggage r ack and disappeared behind The Times.

Nothing was said until the ticket inspector had been round. The ‘gentleman’ asked if I minded if he closed the blinds as he found the sun too bright.

I had no objection, but instead of returning to his seat, he jumped on me, covering my mouth with horrible, slobbery kisses as his hands went to my breast.

I kicked out and screamed. He left the carriage in a hurry. Again, I told no one, but something in me determined that I would do whatever I could to promote the rights of women to travel unmolested.

I feel a great deal of pity for those poor women in Germany who seem to have suffered so much.

We should not be afraid to acknowledge that cultural differences exist that may well make men newly arrived in Western countries f eel they can take advantage of the freedoms that European women have fought for and won.

We’ve seen, at the cost of hundreds of girls and women in t owns s uch as Rotherham, Rochdale and Oxford, how dangerous it i s to f ear that acknowledging the perpetrators of grooming and abuse were mainly from Pakistani communities is racist.

It is not racist to listen to the facts, investigate and act on them.

While I am not blind to the fact that women- only i nstitutions, where they exist, are much more pleasant and relaxing than their unisex equivalents.

Women- only gyms, with the ambient smell of deodorant and polite ladies saying ‘No, after you’ at the water cooler, are an absolute joy. You won’t find me ducking into one of those gender-neutral (ie filthy) public toilets either — no matter how long the queue for the Ladies.

Nevertheless, I can’t find favour with the idea of separate carriages for women.

I lived through the years when women were excluded from bars where men went to talk business — not long before that it was common practice in polite circles at dinner parties for the women would retire to one room to chat about shopping over a cup of tea while the men smoked, drank brandy and debated the important matters of the day.

WE’vEfought very hard to win admitt ance to s uch company. We’ve battled to have our views heard and pressed for democratic agreement that women have equal rights to men.

No one challenges our freedom to wear trousers or the shortest of skirts if we choose.

I remember the days when trousers were banned at the BBC for women unless they worked in the Arab service.

We can dress as we wish. We would be fools to demand ‘ safe spaces’ where we are again separated from the male of the species.

Where might this end? The burqa, of course, the ultimately awful, humiliating way to hide away women from the lustful eyes of men.

The idea of separate carriages is also humiliating and disrespectful for the majority of men who don’t wish to treat women like sex objects — just ordinary dads and husbands who would like to share a carriage with their nearest and dearest without being labelled a potential sex pest.

I tend not to be groped on the bus or the Tube any more, but I see it happening all the time. As an ‘elder stateswoman’, I see it as my duty to never let a wandering hand get away with its work.

A loud cry of ‘Get your hands off that young woman, you dirty old man,’ is generally pretty effective. I’ve also witnessed a fair number of young victims shouting on their own behalf.

‘Get off!’ screeched loudly in a crowded carriage generally leads to deep embarrassment and shame on the part of the abuser.

Shame is a powerful tool in our fight against this form of sexism and more effective than a steel train carriage door.

Just make a sex predator feel

ashamed of his actions and you’re partway towards making him adapt his behaviour.

That’s why I have no doubt it is not in women’s interests to accept the idea of a separate train carriage — effectively a kind of harem — where we would be hidden from the world.

Women must be seen to be out there — visible and strong. If bad things happen, we must be prepared to humiliate the men responsible by denouncing their offence in public, whether in a train carriage to assembled travellers or to the jury in a court.

As for those who feel that any woman or girl is fair game for their sexual advances, education is the key, along with punishment where appropriate.

I have no doubt the sentences handed to the abusive men in Oxford, Rochdale and Rotherham will have made the point to others that this country will not condone such behaviour, regardless of race or culture.

Learning about gender and equality for men and women must be an i mportant part of citizenship education for young men who come to western democracies from cultures where such ideas are not part of their DNA.

Gender education should be part of the curriculum in every school. From a boy’s earliest years, he needs to know sex is a matter of consent. You don’t touch unless you know she agrees.

Then let’s all board that train together, shall we?