Groping is touching another person in an aggressively sexual way. Buttocks, thighs and breasts are often groped. When done without permission or against the will of another person, this can be considered a form of sexual abuse.

Groping women in trains is a widespread phenomenon in Japan. As the suburban trains are usually crowded, bringing the workers to large cities and back to their suburban homes, close physical contact is unavoidable. Many men use this to their advantage, pressing onto women and groping them.

According to one survey, about two thirds of Japanese women between 20-40 years old have been groped on trains or at stations. Young teenagers (schoolgirls) are also often subject to groping.

Japanese women are less likely to openly react to such abuse than their Western counterparts, probably because of cultural differences. In the most extreme cases, when a victim is repeatedly harassed in such way, police protection can be assigned to her.

To allow women to exclude the possibility of being groped by men, some trains have women-only cars.

There are some magazines and websites dedicated to groping women in trains, where the perpetrators discuss their favourite pastime and share experiences.

Groping is a somewhat popular fetish in Japanese pornography.

See also

• Frotteurism

References

• Minimizing molestation, Tokyo Times, November 24, 2004.

External links

• anti-groping sign