Chicago Transit expands anti-harassment campaign

The Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) is expanding and updating its “If It’s Unwanted, It’s Harassment” public service campaign. The goal of the campaign is to promote awareness that CTA will not tolerate harassment on its trains, buses or other CTA property and to provide helpful information to customers who believe they are the victims of harassment.

The expanded awareness campaign builds on an earlier, effective version of the campaign that aimed to address harassment while riding the CTA and that established many of the agency’s procedures and protocols that are in place today.

The campaign, developed by CTA and working with community and advocacy organizations, will feature a series of messages that will appear on buses and trains and at train stations. The campaign will serve three purposes:

• Encourage customers to report incidents that they experience or witness.

• Educate customers on what to do if they believe they are victims of harassment.

• Create awareness by putting would-be offenders on notice that harassment of CTA passengers will not be tolerated.

“The comfort and safety of passengers are our top priorities,” said CTA President Dorval R. Carter Jr. “Though the number of incidents reported to us is small, we take every complaint seriously. Our updated and improved campaign will address some of the most commonly heard customer complaints about harassment on CTA buses and trains and send the message that harassment will not be tolerated on our system.”

To develop the updated campaign, CTA used feedback from customers, local advocates and insight from CTA security professionals.