A group of tram drivers in Milan have been suspended following an investigation into a WhatsApp group in which they allegedly made sexist and vulgar comments about female passengers. The drivers allegedly commented on camera images of the legs, faces, breasts and thighs of female passengers.
Source: The Guardian
Milan prosecutors are investigating at least one employee of ATM, the city’s public transport company. He allegedly hacked into a camera surveillance system to obtain images of female passengers. According to Italian media, searches have been ordered at the homes of five other employees and their mobile phones and other devices have been seized.
The allegations came to light on Saturday after a woman on tram line 15 saw a driver open a WhatsApp group chat. The driver was not on duty, but was still wearing his uniform. According to her, the chat contained camera images and sexist comments about women’s bodies.
Camera images
When the woman realized that the images came from the CCTV cameras on the tram, she took a photo of the chat conversation and sent it to a feminist activist. She then reported it to ATM. “ATM acted quickly to clarify the facts, control the use of company assets and protect customers and employees,” it said in a press release. It is unclear whether the images came from one tram or several, and whether they were shared outside the group chat.
Marco Maria Donzelli, president of consumer organization Codacons, called it a “very serious incident”. “If the facts that have come to light are confirmed, we would be dealing with serious criminal offenses under our criminal law. This would also pave the way for civil claims for damages from the victims,” Donzelli said.
Online misogyny
Unions stressed in a joint statement that “respect for human dignity and gender equality are essential values” as the problem of online misogyny is widespread in Italy. Last summer, outrage arose over a porn site with manipulated images of prominent women, including Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni. In May, Meloni criticized AI deepfakes of her that showed her in lingerie, among other things.