Demand for 'Safe Spaces': Avoiding Harassment and Stigma (English)

We crowdsource information on approximately 22,000 train rides undertaken by commuters on Rio de Janeiro's SuperVia to study sexual harassment in the public space and its effects on demand for a women-reserved space. 1) Women in the public space experience harassment approximately once a week, but being randomly tasked to ride in a women-reserved space halves harassment. 2) Demand for and benefits from the reserved space is not uniform across riders-top-tercile users make up 80 percent of the demand and experience half of the harassment. 3) Over half of commuters associate women in the public space with more sexual openness; women who perceive this attitude to be the prevailing norm are more likely to use the reserved space. 4) Perceptions of norms around the reserved space may limit women's agency; policies that directly address harassment and its perpetrators will be important improving women's mobility.