Para! Anti-shake application is all the rage in Japan

A voice breaks the silence in the Tokyo subway "para". This is a mobile application for hunt the handlers at rush hour, a successful police initiative among women.

Three years ago, the capital police launched the Digi police to inform older people and their families how to protect themselves from scams. Later, he added another against men who rub against women when the carriages are full of people.

The application has been downloaded more than 237,000 times, "an unusually high number" for a public service program, according to Keiko Toyamine, chief of the police department. "It's so popular that every month there are about 10,000 additional subscribers," he says.

Victims are often too afraid to ask for help, mainly because in Japan, it's frowned upon to talk in the subway, where travelers do not look away from phones. "With Digi Police," says Toyamine, "they can alert other pbadengers by staying silent."

The activation triggers a full volume voice message or an SOS message appears on the screen and can be displayed to your neighbors with the text: "There is an aggressor.

In 2017, nearly 900 such cases of badault and harbadment were recorded in Tokyo's trains and subways, according to the latest data available. "It's the visible part of the iceberg," warns Keiko Toyamine.

Special wagons

Those guilty of this type of crime are liable to six months' imprisonment and a fine of up to 500,000 yen ($ 4,460). In case of violence or threats, he can reach ten years in prison.

Yui Kimura, a 27-year-old woman who works on the island of Hokkaido, is worried when she is in the capital. "In the Tokyo subway, I'm still suspended because I know that At any time, I can find myself surrounded by squalid men"he declares.

Reina Oishi, a 21-year-old student, plans to download the application. "I've been so many times victim handlers … ", he says.

Aware of the problem, several railway companies have created women's wagons during rush hours and installed cameras on the most exposed lines. Women debate the issue in the Internet forums.

Akiyoshi Saito, a social worker in charge of managing public transport around the world, has drivers on public transport. 800 attackers as part of a reintegration program.

The badist mentality is deeply rooted in Japanese society "and the idea that men are superior to women can help "maintain these practices," he says.

In this context, he adds, the application is positive for the "silent" victims, because "the predators target mainly those who seem shy and reluctant to complain"