Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART), along with partners Betti Ono Foundation and The Unity Council’s Latina Mentoring & Achievement Program, is moving the Not One More Girl initiative into Phase 2, which aims “to deepen the reach and impact” of the community-driven anti-sexual harassment initiative to bolster safety on BART’s system.
The Not One More Girl initiative was launched in 2020. BART prioritized the initiative after Alliance for Girls presented its Together We Rise report showcasing the lived experiences of girls of color in the Bay Area and the physical and verbal harassment, often of a sexual nature, they experience on transit.
The Not One More Girl initiative uses art, youth participatory action research, cultural strategy and policy change to create means of empowerment and dismantle the systems that have enabled gender-based violence and harassment. The current phase of the initiative places emphasis on a “culture of care” – how people may have a greater sense of control in a harassment situation, as well as how fellow riders may provide support when it is occurring.
An online survey in 2022 found the initiative is helping reduce harassment and improve the perception of safety on BART’s system. The second phase of the initiative will engage BART frontline workers in the process of addressing gender-based violence in the system.
BART and organizational partners will kick off the next round of outreach events at Oakland First Fridays on June 2. In addition to sharing information and resources about BART and Not One More Girl, the community is invited to participate in the creation of a collective storytelling wall and to share their stories of courage and support in recorded video interviews. The Oakland First Fridays event will be followed by a pop-up at the Fruitvale Farmers Market on Thursday, June 8, from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m.
In the coming weeks, BART and Betti Ono will unveil Not One More Girl communication strategies, with an emphasis on safe bystander intervention tactics, as well as a new art campaign by local artist Safi Kolozsvari Regalado that will appear on trains and in stations throughout the system. BART worked with a cohort of local youth from Betti Ono’s Arts and Civic Engagement fellowship program to develop these new tools and strategies.
