Can Male Drivers Park In Women-Only Spots Just Because They Have Female Passengers?
The incident, where a man parked in a pink-designated space accompanied by a female passenger, raised questions about who has the right to use gender-reserved parking.
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Are women-only parking spaces usable by male drivers as long as they have female passengers?
A woman, @leaurora, shared on social media Thread that she saw a man parking his car in a shopping mall’s women-only parking area.
If the driver is male, why are pink parking zones reserved for women and children?
She said she saw a man exit the car parked in the women-only zone with a woman in the passenger seat.
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Reserved for Women*: Terms and Conditions Apply
She didn’t know if the woman was his sister, girlfriend, or wife, but she questioned why he parked in the women’s parking area.
Is he trying to use the excuse: ‘Oh, I have a woman with me so I can park here.’
I’m angry that women’s parking spaces are being misused. When I asked the security guard, he surprisingly said everyone could park there.
The woman then complained to the mall’s customer service counter, but the staff only gave her a complaint form to fill out.
A Pattern of Misuse and Limited Oversight
She said the staff mentioned this wasn’t the first complaint they’d received.
Still, no security personnel were specifically watching the women’s parking area as they needed to patrol the entire mall.
The staff also told her that disabled parking spots face similar misuse.
Some people use disabled parking spots just because they’re transporting disabled passengers.
Must History Repeat to Restore Safety?
The debate over women-only parking spaces carries a darker historical context, rooted in the tragic 2003 Canny Ong case that shook Malaysia and led to the establishment of pink parking zones.
The mall’s inability to properly monitor these designated spaces, security guards claiming universal access, and staff only offering complaint forms suggests a concerning drift from the original safety-focused intent of women-only parking areas.
The parallel misuse of disabled parking spaces further highlights a broader pattern of eroding respect for protected parking designations.
One can only hope it won’t take another tragic incident to remind us why these safety measures were implemented in the first place and to trigger proper enforcement of these crucial protective spaces.
I ingat lagi gi mall kat perak. I selalu target nak parking dekat tempat parking wanita sebab I sensorang je bawak kereta. But these people who had family, mobility is fine pergi parking kat situ. Kau tak rasa sakit hati ke? Dah satu hal aku parking jejauh kena hati2 https://t.co/NLBoC62enj
— 문Lya-semi ia (@mungjungjung) August 22, 2024
READ MORE: [Watch] Safe Spaces: When ‘My Girlfriend Was Driving’ Isn’t Good Enough
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