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)

上海地铁发布了一则官方微博，提醒女乘客“穿衣自重”以避免性骚扰。该微博日前反响强烈，引发抗议。

地铁运营商在其微博上贴出了一张穿着透视装的女性照片，并配有文字：“穿成这样，不被骚扰，才怪。”

这样的字眼激怒了部分女性，她们强烈抨击这其中的歧视和性别偏见。

不过，网上投票显示，大多数人还是同意女性着装应有自我保护意识。

“上海地铁二运”周三发布的这条微博还补充说，地铁狼较多，规劝女孩子们要“自重”。

该言论在网络上激起了一番狂轰滥炸，很多人谴责地铁公司将女性受到性骚扰归咎于着装暴露。

《中国日报》援引一位微博用户的帖子说道：“按照这个逻辑，游泳池里不是所有的男人都要对女人动手动脚了么？”

另一位网友则直言：“就算女性不穿暴露的服装，并不表明她就不会被性骚扰。”

周日，两名女子身着黑袍面纱、手持标语在上海地铁里表达抗议，其中一块标语上写道： “我可以骚，你不能扰。”

地铁公司的发言人表示，该微博并非为性骚扰开脱责任，只是给广大女性一个“善意的提醒”。

“作为上海市地铁运营商，我们有责任向女性发出警告，乘坐地铁会有性骚扰的潜在风险。”他接受《环球时报》采访时说。

他也透露，目前在地铁上遭到性骚扰的投诉越来越多。

新浪微博发起了一项调查，数万网民发表了自己的观点，其中大多数人都同意女性乘坐公共交通时应有自我保护意识。

“在公共场所着装得体是礼貌问题，”一位微博用户这么写道，“要求女性穿着自重并不意味着性骚扰就是对的。”

（China.org.cn Wendy 译）