A NEW service to stamp out unwanted sexual behaviour on public transport across Victoria has received more than 1500 notifications in its first year and has led to 13 arrests.

Aptly called STOPIT, the text-based notification service that was launched on July 11, 2022, has helped combat sexual offending on public transport enormously and given commuters greater confidence when they travel.

It’s the first service of its kind anywhere in Australia with Victoria Police analysis showing more than 40 per cent of notifications to STOPIT related to threatening and offensive behaviour such as verbal abuse and harassment.

Almost one in five notifications related to unwanted sexual behaviour including catcalling, sexual gestures, non-consensual touching and flashing.

Some of those arrested include;

• A 20-year-old man who was charged after performing allegedly explicit acts towards five women on several train lines between March and August last year. Police were able to link the incidents after one victim used STOPIT.

• A 51-year-old man charged with sexual assault after allegedly making inappropriate sexual comments and touching a woman at Southern Cross Station on December 23 last year.

• A 24-year-old man who was charged after performing allegedly explicit acts and making inappropriate sexual comments towards a woman on a city-bound Werribee line train on November 11 last year.

• A 44-year-old man who was charged with two counts of sexual activity directed at another after boarding a train at Clayton Railway Station on October 25 last year. A commuter took a photo of the incident and sent it to police using STOPIT. Police then linked the offender to a second incident.

• A 33-year-old man charged after two witnesses saw him allegedly perform an explicit act towards a woman on a city-bound Sunbury line train on September 6. Both witnesses notified police through STOPIT. The man was also charged with committing an indictable offence while on bail.

Several separate notifications remain under investigation by detectives.

Women and girls have made up more than half of people using STOPIT, with all notifications reviewed and assessed by a dedicated team of transit police and many then escalated to detectives at the Transit Crime Investigation Unit.

Information received also gives police a broader picture about behaviour across the public transport network, be it a particular train line or time of day.

It means deployment of transit police is intelligence-led.

To use the service commuters simply text ‘STOPIT’ to 0499 455 455.

The service is not monitored live and should not be used if an urgent response is required.

For further information go to police.vic.gov.au/stopit

Victoria Police transit safety division, Inspector Mark Zervaas, thanked everyone who had used STOPIT over the last 12 months.

“Every piece of information received has helped us make the network a safer place for all commuters,” he said.

“Without STOPIT, more than a dozen investigations may have never been solved.

“These offenders have now been charged and put through the courts - all thanks to commuters who have stood up to this type of behaviour.

“We encourage all commuters to save the number in your phone and text STOPIT if you experience or see unwanted sexual behaviour on the network.

“Your information could be the final piece of the puzzle we need to arrest an offender.”