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Power of the eyes: deterring sexual harassment in Tokyo subways using images of watchful eyes

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  17 March 2020

KIKI K. CHU
KIKI K. CHU*
Affiliation:
London School of Economics and Political Science, London, UK
*
*Correspondence to: London School of Economics and Political Science, Houghton St, Holborn, LondonWC2A 2AE, UK. Email: k.chu@alumni.lse.ac.uk
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Abstract

Sex crime in subways poses an ever-present threat to Japanese commuters. This paper proposes a simple and viable adjunct to the current tactics by harnessing the potential of the watching eyes effect to deter sexual harassment. It attempts to observe the human biological sensitivity to gaze and to explore its application to the specific Japanese context where powerful informal control exists. The paper also identifies the possible advantages and limitations of such measure, with the goal of stimulating more discussion over evidence-based behavioural interventions in deterring crimes. A tentative proposal is composed to summarize and demonstrate a number of behaviourally informed suggestions regarding the practical implementation and configuration of the proposed measure.

Type
New Voices
Information
Behavioural Public Policy , Volume 6 , Issue 4 , October 2022 , pp. 674 - 685
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2020

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