For Fatma Chouikha, Feb. 20 started like any other Friday. She went to work, then began her 40-minute commute home. But on her way from Montreal West to downtown Montreal via the city’s public transit system, she was knocked off track. “I was putting my AirPods so I was not focused, you know, around me on what’s happening,” she says. Chouikha then felt a punch at the back of her head. The incident happened around 6 p.m. on the platform at Lionel-Groulx Metro station. Though disoriented by the punch, Chouikha says she gathered herself enough to try and figure out what was going on. She turned around and saw the back of a man who seemed to be walking away briskly. She ran over to the police on site and says the officers told her to file a report. “Even now, when I’m letting you know, like, I have tears because I’m remembering the incident,” Chouikha expressed, adding “no woman should feel like the insecurity in the metro transportation.” Chouikha’s story is one of many. Montreal police (SPVM) data notes a 15 per cent increase in metro assaults compared to last year. In a statement to CTV Montreal, the SPVM says the investigation into Chouikha’s case is ongoing and no arrests have been made so far. After posting about her experience on TikTok, Chouikha received dozens of comments from people sharing their concerns around the lack of safety on public transit. In a reddit thread titled “Woman hit in the head at Lionel-Groulx,” comments warn others to beware of their surroundings. “I didn’t take metro transportation since then. I’m taking Lyft,” Chouikha told CTV Montreal. She says the Société de transport de Montréal (STM) has been sensitive to her case and she understands that larger issues may be at play. In a statement, the STM says it operates within the context of a lack of resources for the unhoused and the situation needs to be addressed.
