By Kazi Mahmood, IOL Southeast Asia Correspondent

KUALA LUMPUR, November 30 (IslamOnline) - The Philippine authorities have decided to introduce coaches exclusively for female passengers on trains of the Light Railway Transit (LRT) to protect women from sexual harassment, news reports said Friday, November 29.

The scheme will be implemented from next week after the Light Railway Transit Authority (LRT) received complaints of "male passengers who deliberately squeeze their way into fully loaded trains to make sexual advances," LRTA administrator Teddy Cruz said as reported by AFP news service.

The all-female coach would be installed behind a special section allotted for the elderly, pregnant and disabled passengers and adults with infants or children.

Sexual harassment is taken seriously in some South East Asian countries, such as Singapore, Brunei and Malaysia but it is rather surprising that the Christian majority Philippines will implement such a segregated service.

In Singapore there is no segregation of sexes in buses, trains or schools yet the laws are severe and males are the main target in sexual harassment cases.

Sexually harassing a woman in public can lead to stiff penalties, such as jail terms and fines or both, and such cases are always connected to the weaker sex complaining about males who takes advantage of the ladies with impunity.

The laws in Singapore are tailored for offenses committed in public transport such as trains and buses, two modes of transportation that can be very packed during peak hours.

In Brunei and Malaysia there are specific segregation of the sexes in public transportation though in Kelantan, a state run by the Party Islam Se-Malaysia (PAS), women are offered specific seats in public transportation.

In these majority Muslim nations, segregation is practiced only to a certain level while males and females who are not related are not supposed to be seen in promiscuity.

Cinema audiences in the Malaysian state of Terengganu, again controlled by the PAS have been segregated into male and female seating areas. While in Kelantan, only women audiences are allowed for female artists.

In Kuala Lumpur, the capital city of Malaysia, the LRT authorities recently imposed heavy fines in order to deter young couples from flirting in trains or at the stations, a situation that is worsening they said.

In the Philippines though, engineer Rod Bulario, head of LRT operations and engineering department, said that it would not be mandatory for women to take this special train.

Bulario noted that if a female passenger does not want to be separated from her male companion, she could join him in the regular coach.

"It would be up to the female passengers if they want to avail themselves of this special coach. But definitely, the males could never join them there," Bulario added.

"To avoid confusion, security guards assigned at the platform will guide female passengers who want to use the all-female section," Cruz said.

However in Muslim Malaysia, several women dismissed the possibility of having their own LRT coaches. Their reaction was summed-up by this housewife who said it is a good idea but not necessary.

“It is good but not necessary, it is a waste of resources and I believe resources should be used wisely. Having separate coaches will not solve the problems” said Ayesha, the housewife who does not mind take a normal bus or train.

In the Philippines, some 320,000 passengers use the LRT daily, of which 60 percent are women.

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