Just over a year ago, Jeremy Corbyn and co proposed the idea of women-only tube carriages.
While the notion shined the spotlight on the number of sexual offences that occur on public transport, many criticised the plans, brandishing it as a step back for feminism.
Why should women have to be segregated to feel safe at night? Surely there has to be a better solution - than reintroducing carriages only for women (something which was abolished on British Rail trains in 1977). After huge backlash, the proposal was dismissed by The London Assembly.
But now - for the first time ever - an airline will be launching 'women-only' flights, in a bid to combat sexual assualt. Air India announced that female passengers will be given the option to purchase tickets in a small women-only row of seats on every domestic flight from January 18th.
‘The move comes after a recent on-board incident when a flyer reportedly groped a woman co-passenger on Air India’s Mumbai-Newark flight,’ according to the Times of India. ‘During the flight, a business class passenger changed his seat to sit next to a female passenger in the economy class and allegedly groped her when she fell asleep.’
‘We feel, as national carriers, it is our responsibility to enhance comfort level to female passengers,’ Air India's Meenakshi Malik said in a statement. ‘There are a lot of female passengers who travel alone with us and we will be blocking a few seats for them.’
Although not everyone is keen on the new seating arrangements, labelling the strategy as sexist.
‘It will lead to gender discrimination,’ former Air India executive director Jitendra Bhargava told The Hindu. ‘It is an impractical move and will lead to gender discrimination,’ D. Sudhakara Reddy, national president of Air Passengers Association of India, agreed. ‘The airline should not go ahead with the plan.’
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