Mexico introduces a 'penis seat' on public transport to tackle sexual harassment

Mexico City's government has joined with the UN to install a "penis seat" on public transport in a controversial campaign against sexual harassment.

A reported 9 out of 10 women have been victims of some type of sexual violence in their daily commute in the Mexican capital.

UN Women Mexico aimed to generate debate over the sexual harassment by installing a mould of a male torso and erect penis on the metro and labelling it "for men only".

"It is annoying to travel this way, but not compared to the sexual violence women suffer in their daily commutes," a sign under the seat reads.

The group filmed the reaction of passengers who tried to sit on the train seat.

Dubbed the Seat Experiment, the results of the social experiment were uploaded to YouTube.

Those behind the campaign #noesdehombres, or "#itsnotmanly" in English, seek to put men in situations usually only faced by women in everyday life.

They hope the experiment's viral success will encourage society to denormalise such behaviour.

  • In 2014, a YouGov poll ranked Mexico City's metro as the worst for verbal and physical harassment

  • A reported 9 out of 10 women have been victims of some type of sexual violence in their daily transfers in the Mexican capital

A second video launched by the UN on Mexico City's metro involved the bottoms of male passengers being broadcast onto television monitors on train platforms.

Critics of the campaigns argue that the shock value does not do enough to address the root causes of violence against women in the country.

Machismo is often blamed for sexist attitudes in Mexico City, with the patriarchal role of men still heavy set in Latin American society.