Vancouver students work with transit police on campaign to prevent sexual offences on SkyTrain, buses

High school students are teaming up with Metro Vancouver Transit Police to drive home the message thatcrimes of a sexual naturewill not be tolerated and must be reported.

"This project was born out of a realization that sexual assault on public transit poses a big risk to transit riders, particularly to young ones," said Grade 12 student Erika Hunter, who was one of three students who addressedreporters outside the TransLink head office in New Westminster on Tuesday.

Hunter said she and her peers who have been targeted while using public transit have noticed other passengers staying silent while it happened.

"Personally, I wasn't aware of this issue until I faced it myself, so to hear that many of my peers had been impacted as well hit me hard," she said.

"We figured that maybe if people were equipped with the knowledge of how to react to sexual crime on transit as bystanders, they would be more likely to do something about it."

A police spokesperson said that Grade 12 students from Sir Winston Churchill Secondary School had asked to discusspreviousmessaging and find new ways to educate young people on what to do when they witness or experience sexual offences.

Police spokesperson Const. Mike Yake said it builds on ongoing efforts to support victims and hold offenders accountable, adding that sexual offences on public transit continue to be a serious problem.

Yake said transit police deemed it apriority issuein 2012.

In July 2014police removed some SkyTrain ads after people complained thecampaign had blamed victims.

Thenew ads, designed by a student, illustrateexamples of realistic situations involving transit passengersthat make them feel uncomfortable or unsafe while using buses and SkyTrains, such as groping, verbal harassment and nonconsensual touching.

"These include hands on a thigh or buttocks and arms wrapping around another passenger without their consent," Yake said.

The ads will be going up on SkyTrains, buses and at select SkyTrain stations, he said, as well as on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.

"These ads also show the critical role that can be played by passengers who witness such incidents."

Similar to previous public service announcements by the transit police, this campaign directs people to report incidents by text to 87-77-77. It encourages witnesses and victims to "discreetly text" the authorities right away when an incident occurs.