Rio de Janeiro: Women commuters filled female-only, pink-striped subway cars in the Brazilian city of Rio de Janeiro on Monday on the first day of a scheme to avert groping and other unwanted sexual advances.
A law passed by the state legislature and signed by Rio Gov Rosinha Matheus last month obliged the underground Metro and above-ground railways to have separate passenger cars for women during the weekday rush hours.
"It's the first day today and we had women applauding when men, who had entered their carriage without knowing about the rule, got off," a spokeswoman for the private Metro Rio company said.
Frequent complaints from women commuters about sexual harassment in crowded railway cars had prompted state legislators to pass the Bill.
One car in every of Metro Rio's 33 trains is marked with pink stripes. The company said female passengers would themselves control men's entry into the cars.
