Bus Company Pledges to End Sex Segregation on NYC Route Serving Ultra-Orthodox Jewish RIders

The New York World and the New York Times recently reported that women boarding the B110 bus in Brooklyn were being told to go to the back of the bus in order to honor religious norms restricting contact between the sexes. New York City contracts with a private company to serve the route in question, and such a segregative practice would represent a violation of controlling anti-discrimination law.  In a letter to the city last week, the private operator characterized the observed incidents as inconsistent with the company’s policies. The operator has now pledged to confirm that all drivers are aware of and enforce anti-discrimination rules. The operator also stated it would post signs on the buses specifying that discriminatory conduct, such as sex segregated seating, is forbidden.

The Jewish Daily Forward notes that, although sex segregation in private areas within New York’s  ultra-Orthodox communities is a long-standing practice, the effort to extend such rules into public areas such as buses and streets is new.  According to The Forward, controversies over efforts to maintain sex segregation on public buses have been a source of recurrent controversy in Jerusalem.

JFB