Israeli Court Approves Gender Segregated Buses

VOA Breaking News (Voice of America)
January 6, 2011 at 7:00 pm

Israel's Supreme Court says buses serving some ultra-Orthodox Jewish communities may segregate men and women, as along as female passengers are not forced to sit separately from male passengers.

The court issued the ruling on Thursday, after human rights and women's groups filed a lawsuit arguing the practice is illegal.

The 2007 lawsuit charged that some women were verbally and physically assaulted for refusing to follow the seating rules, which forced them to sit at the back of the bus.

Justice Elyakim Rubinstein wrote in his ruling Thursday that no one has the right to “order, request or tell women where they may sit simply because they are women.”

The court said that the bus companies may continue the practice as long as there is no coercion or violence involved.

Ultra-orthodox Judaism limits how much men and women can intermingle if they are not married.