Women 'Thrown Off' Buses For Minor Fare Problems

Chiswick charity leader says this puts safety of women at risk

The founder of the Chiswick-based national children’s charity, Act Against Bullying has written to Stephen Greenhalgh, Deputy Mayor for Policing and Crime to ask him to step in over the matter of 'girls being turned off buses’ at night.

Louise Burfitt-Dons (below) says;`Young women travelling alone are regularly refused to board buses if their Oyster is short or they’ve not got the exact money,’

She has called on Transport for London (TfL) and the Mayor's office to unite to come up a policy which will ensure women travelling alone are safe. This would mean that women travelling late are not refused entry to public transport for reasons of being short of exact change, or not having sufficient Oyster card credit.

Last year a student in Nottingham was raped after being refused entry at 3am being 20p short of the £5 fare.

Ms. Burfitt-Don who recently spoke at the Sexual Exploitation forum at Westminster ( organised in the wake of the Asian gang 'grooming' ring ) says that women are increasingly at risk while on public transport and were often too scared to report instances of groping or inappropriate behaviour as they did not know whether this would constitute a criminal offence.

"There is a big campaign against domestic violence against women at the moment. Here is a practical measure that can make life safer for young people - they should not be thrown off buses for something like not having the right money. There must be some method devised whereby the fare can be recouped.

"The streets are dangerous. Sometimes a bus home is a lifeline. This type of unreasonable behaviour over what often amounts to a £1.40p  fare or less  seems incongruous set against the effort and expense directed towards the Violence Against Women and Girls campaign."

Act Against Bullying is a UK registered charity which helps children who are bullied at school through campaigning via the media, online advice and publications. Cool To Be Kind Day this year is November 13th and they are supporting Kindness Day UK.

To donate to Act Against Bullying. Download a full range of their free resources For more information on how to be in involved go to Cyberkind Campaign.

June 14, 2013