BART launches campaign against gender-based violence

The San Francisco Examiner covered Alliance for Girls' Not One More Girl campaign, which seeks to combat sexual harassment on public transit.

BART launched a first-of-its-kind campaign Friday that seeks to combat gender-based violence on public transit, provide non-law enforcement resources to victims and rigorously track complaints so data can inform future policy.

The campaign, dubbed #NotOneMoreGirl, calls for placing more than 300 posters on traincars and stations beginning Friday that feature images, slogans and designs produced by young women and local artists.

BART also added a sexual harassment category to its mobile watchdog reporting tool and created a landing page on its website for all resources regard gender-based violence, including access to support that doesn’t involve the police.

“Until all our girls are safe, none of us is safe,” BART board member Lateefah Simon said at a press conference Friday at West Oakland Station.

The campaign comes after a survey found nearly 10 percent of BART passengers experienced sexual harassment while riding a train or at a station in 2020 including unwanted sexual advances, cat-calling or gawking.

This was the first time ever BART asked riders a survey question about gender-based violence.

Across California, 77 percent of women surveyed had endured sexual harassment in public space, and 29 percent had experienced it on public transit, according to a statewide assessment on the topic.

The campaign is a partnership between the rail agency and a host of community groups including Alliance for Girls, Betti Ono, Black Girls Brilliance and the Unity Council’s Latinx Mentorship and Achievement Program.

It recoginizes the experiences of a range of BART riders who identity by different races and genders and may be more likely to recieve verbal attacks, harassment and violence.