A Shanghai Metro microblog post urging women to ''pay attention to how you dress'' to avoid sexual harassment has sparked protests and strong reactions.

The metro operator posted a picture of a woman in a see-through dress on its Twitter-like Weibo account, saying: "It's no wonder that some people get harassed if they dress like this."

This drew criticism for discrimination and sexism from irate women.

But in an online poll, most agreed that women should dress more conservatively.

The post published by Shanghai No 2 Subway Co on Wednesday added that there were many perverts on the subway and asked women to ''cherish'' themselves.

This set off a flurry of comments online, with many decrying the suggestion that women were to blame for sexual harassment by dressing scantily.

"According to this logic, all men can harass women in swimming pools?" one microblog user was quoted as saying in China Daily.

''Even if a woman doesn't wear revealing clothes, it doesn't mean she won't be sexually harassed,'' another user pointed out.

On Sunday, two women walked through the metro trains with their faces covered in black and carrying signs in protest. One sign read: ''I can be coquettish; but you cannot harass me.''

A spokesman for the metro company denied allegations that the post was justifying sexual harassment, and said it was meant to be a ''kind reminder'' to women.

"As the city's subway operator, we have the responsibility to warn women of the potential danger of sexual harassment on the subway," he told the Global Times newspaper.

He added that there had been an increase in the number of complaints of sexual harassment on the subway.

The majority of tens of thousands of internet users responding to a Sina Weibo survey, however, agreed that women should dress conservatively when taking public transportation.

''Dressing appropriately in public is a matter of public courtesy,'' said one microblog user. ''Asking women to be self-respecting in the way they dress does not equate to justifying sexual harassment.''

(BBC June 28, 2012)

上海地鐵發布了一則官方微博，提醒女乘客“穿衣自重”以避免性騷擾。該微博日前反響強烈，引發抗議。

地鐵運營商在其微博上貼出了一張穿著透視裝的女性照片，并配有文字：“穿成這樣，不被騷擾，才怪。”

這樣的字眼激怒了部分女性，她們強烈抨擊這其中的歧視和性別偏見。

不過，網上投票顯示，大多數人還是同意女性著裝應有自我保護意識。

“上海地鐵二運”周三發布的這條微博還補充說，地鐵狼較多，規勸女孩子們要“自重”。

該言論在網絡上激起了一番狂轟濫炸，很多人譴責地鐵公司將女性受到性騷擾歸咎于著裝暴露。

《中國日報》援引一位微博用戶的帖子說道：“按照這個邏輯，游泳池里不是所有的男人都要對女人動手動腳了么？”

另一位網友則直言：“就算女性不穿暴露的服裝，并不表明她就不會被性騷擾。”

周日，兩名女子身著黑袍面紗、手持標語在上海地鐵里表達抗議，其中一塊標語上寫道： “我可以騷，你不能擾。”

地鐵公司的發言人表示，該微博并非為性騷擾開脫責任，只是給廣大女性一個“善意的提醒”。

“作為上海市地鐵運營商，我們有責任向女性發出警告，乘坐地鐵會有性騷擾的潛在風險。”他接受《環球時報》采訪時說。

他也透露，目前在地鐵上遭到性騷擾的投訴越來越多。

新浪微博發起了一項調查，數萬網民發表了自己的觀點，其中大多數人都同意女性乘坐公共交通時應有自我保護意識。

“在公共場所著裝得體是禮貌問題，”一位微博用戶這么寫道，“要求女性穿著自重并不意味著性騷擾就是對的。”

（China.org.cn Wendy 譯）