Dofa Fasila – Jakarta Governor Fauzi Bowo has advice for women to avoid being raped by public transportation drivers – do not wear short skirts.

Fauzi was speaking on Friday after a woman was kidnapped and pack-raped by four men in a public minivan. Fauzi said women could prevent becoming targets by paying attention to their fashion choices.

"Wear sensible clothes, don't wear 'inviting' clothes. You can imagine, if [a woman] wears short skirt and sits next to the driver, it could be 'inviting,'" Foke said.

He also had a message for women who took motorbike taxis (ojek). "If you ride on an ojek and you wear short pants or a miniskirt, do not sit like a man, just side saddle. If you side saddle, there will be no problem," Foke said.

Fauzi, whose term expires in 2012, said he had also instructed the Transportation Office to provide better security for passengers at night. "They will have to provide security for passengers to prevent more crimes from happening," he said.

On Thursday, the Jakarta Police said that public transportation drivers would soon be required to wear uniforms, carry name tags and be subjected to spot checks for valid licenses, following a spate of serious crimes against passengers.

Sr. Comr. Royke Lumowa, the Jakarta Police's traffic director, said the use of a uniform and identity tag, similar to those worn by taxi drivers, would make it easier to identify them if they were implicated in a crime.