Trip.com Group Ltd., a leading travel service provider in China, has recently launched a new feature that offers women-only compartments on sleeper trains for an additional service fee of 10 yuan ($1.4). This new booking option has triggered heated online debates, with some condemning the feature as an act of sexual segregation and others hailing women-only sleeper cars as a much needed protection mechanism against sexual harassment.

Some people have argued that the interior of a sleeper train, like that of a subway or a bus, is a public space and therefore does not need special segregated areas. Others, however, agreed that these sleeper cabins, with doors that can be locked from the inside, form small enclosed spaces in which solo female travelers may feel uncomfortable when surrounded by men.

Setting up a women-only compartment is not always an easy task. On top of people's polarized attitudes toward the idea, the constant flux of passengers on a train poses a great challenge for daily management and maintenance. If the establishment of women-only compartments is not currently feasible, railway companies should consider optimizing the ticketing systems to ensure single female travelers don't find themselves alone.

(Yangcheng Evening News,July 28)