Jakarta – Women in this city are often harassed sexually when they take the extremely crowded public trains.

"Almost every day a man will try to press his body against me," Yurike [not her real name], a teacher who takes the train almost every day, said. "If I get angry, they just say 'if you don't want to get touched, don't take the train'," she said.

"Once, I asked a man to help me up onto the train, and after he gave me a hand he sneeringly thanked me. I realised he thanked me for touching me," she said.

Anita [not her real name] tells a similar story. The employee of a private bank in central Jakarta said she has to wear a skirt to office and often has to deal with men trying to grope her.

Meanwhile, Sugandi, 28, a janitor at a mall in south Jakarta, said with no apparent shame, that he availed of the opportunities provided by crowded trains.

"Where else can I enjoy those pretty women? Trains are the right place," he said. "It's impossible a beautiful woman would ever look at me, but I can touch and even kiss them on trains."

Arief Rifky, a student at a private university, said he felt disgusted whenever he saw such instances. "I want to do something to stop it, but I can't do anything ... I think the best way to stop this harassment is to provide special compartments for women," he said.

Meanwhile, chairman of the Indonesian Women's Association for Justice Rita Serena Kolibonso said: "A woman must immediately berate the man who is trying to harass her on the train, or these types of incidents will be seen as common and lawful occurrences."