'Harassment on TransLink' website lets victims speak out

A website launched by two SFU students called Harassment on TransLink is giving women in Metro Vancouver a chance to speak out publicly about incidents.

Katie Nordgren is one of the founders of the website, which allows people to anonymously submit their experiences online.

Nordgren says she's been overwhelmed and disturbed by the response.

"I knew that this was a problem. I knew that this was a reality for women, but the stories we've been getting are blowing my mind."

Many of the stories on the website also reveal how isolated the victims feel during the incidents, even though the harassment takes place in a very public place.

She says what's most troubling is stories from people who are unaware their experience qualifies as assault.

"She proceeded to detail a situation in which she was trapped on the inside seat of a bus for a 45-minute ride from Surrey to Richmond while a man took off his shoe and rubbed his foot all up and down her leg."

"I don't know if this counts. I don't know if this is assault," Nordgen says the user asked.

Transit Police say the majority of these assaults go unreported, but Nordgren says police should be trained to spot them.

On Wednesday police launched an investigation after a woman reported she was groped by a man who followed her into an elevator at the 22nd Street SkyTrain Station in New Westminster.