Thousands signed a petition in favour of segregation after a Brazilian woman was attacked on a Paris commuter train — but opponents say it is gender apartheid
When a 26-year-old Brazilian train passenger recounted the trauma of an attempted rape on a Paris commuter line this autumn, a call for the introduction of women-only carriages won support.
More than 31,000 people have signed a petition in favour of the measure, which has already been adopted on public transport in countries such as Japan, India and Brazil. But the idea has provoked angry debate in a French society that has long viewed the creation of women-only areas, whether in sports clubs or swimming pools, as an affront to its — at least theoretical — ideal of equality.
