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Women passengers on a train in the 1930s
Second-class citizens. Sexism ‘can only be solved with fundamental improvements in the attitudes of men towards women’. Photograph: Planet News Archive/SSPL via Getty Images
Second-class citizens. Sexism ‘can only be solved with fundamental improvements in the attitudes of men towards women’. Photograph: Planet News Archive/SSPL via Getty Images

Change attitudes of men, not railway carriages

This article is more than 6 years old
Sexism is a cultural issue writes Alan Borgars, while Sue Newte laments misogyny not being seen as a hate crime

The shadow minister Chris Williamson’s idea of women-only carriages to tackle sexual assault on public transport is not feasible nor does it solve problems (Labour in row over all-female train carriages, 24 August). So many trains on commuter routes are already overcrowded, making segregated carriages impossible to enforce, especially since many trains no longer have guards on board. This perennial problem is in any case cultural and can only be solved with fundamental improvements in the attitudes of men towards women.
Alan Borgars
Nottingham

While the Crown Prosecution Service’s decision to treat online hate crimes seriously is to be welcomed (Alison Saunders, Opinion, 21 August), it is disappointing to note that the definition on its website still makes no reference to gender-based hate crime. To date only two police forces have taken the initiative to include misogyny as a hate crime (Nottingham and North Yorkshire). When can all women, including the director of public prosecutions herself), obtain the same protection as the women of Nottingham and North Yorkshire?
Sue Newte
London

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