An anatomically correct seat was installed to make a point about sexual harassment.
Obviously, it wasn't the most comfortable — or preferred — seat on the train for riders.
Mexico City installs attention grabbing, anatomically correct seat.
This article originally appeared on 03.31.17
Anyone using the Mexico City Metro recently may have spotted an ... odd seat on the train, a seat quite unlike the rest.
Instead of a back, the seat's plastic was molded into a person's protruding torso. And instead of a flat bottom for sitting, the seat took on the form of that person's thighs and penis.
Obviously, it wasn't the most comfortable — or preferred — seat on the train for riders.
Above the seat was a sign declaring the seat "for men only."
Another sign on the floor, legible once a person was sitting in the chair, reads (translated from Spanish): “It’s annoying to sit here, but doesn’t compare to the sexual violence women suffer on their daily trips."
Watch a video of confused, amused, and offended passengers experiencing the seat below:
The campaign, #NoEsDeHombres, was launched by U.N. Women and authorities in Mexico City to educate men on the seriousness of sexual assault on public transit.
Mexico's capital has a bad reputation when it comes to women's safety, the BBC reported. A global 2014 study found Mexico City was the worst in the world in terms of verbal and physical harassment experienced on public transit.
But harassment is a problem on virtually every major city transit system — including in the U.S. Last year, a survey of Washington, D.C., transit riders found 1 in 5 users had experienced sexual harassment during their commutes, with 28% of that figure reporting having been inappropriately touched or assaulted. As you could have guessed, women were nearly three times as likely as men to experience harassment, the survey found.
Maybe a seat like this for men should be on every city train from here on out.