

Photo by PoPville flickr user Eric P.

“Dear PoPville,

Apparently, some creep has been filming women on the Metro and posting the videos on a porn site. This seems like the sort of thing that people in the PoPville community (and, the larger DC community) probably ought to know about; but, I don’t have any information (or any way to get information) about the person doing it. I know there have been previous posts in the forums (under Public Safety) about creeps photographic women in the Metro system.

The link is to the profile page of the guy (at least, I assume it’s a guy since the profile claims it is) who posted the videos. XHamster, in case you haven’t heard of it, is basically a YouTube clone for porn. So, the content on the site is posted by users. I ran across one of these videos when it popped up in a totally unrelated search; and, I probably wouldn’t have even noticed it were it not for the distinctive colors of Metro seats. I watched enough to confirm that it definitely was Metro, not some other similar appearing system – the map is a dead giveaway; and, it showed the Silver Line, meaning that the video is recent – and clicked through to the user who posted it. I figured either it was posted by the person who took the video or someone who found it elsewhere online. If the latter, there’s not so much that could be done; but, as it turns out, this person has like a dozen videos that are easily identifiable as filmed on Metro trains and, I think, none from anywhere else. So, this guy is probably the person who filmed them.

Anyway, they appear to be smartphone videos of young women – usually wearing shorts or skirts – who are unaware that they are being filmed, often taken from low angle. Not technically explicit – and, due to the obnoxious rulings earlier this fall in Texas and DC, almost certainly not illegal, unfortunately – but, certainly creepy. To be clear, I have no fundamental issue with pornography (obviously); but, that’s premised on the consent of anyone being filmed, which clearly seems to be lacking here.”