Men made to stay home curb violence

Men made to stay home curb violence
Reuters

BOGOTA, MARCH 11: In Bogota's fashionable Parque 93 neighbourhood, crowds of women and girls took over bars and restaurants and chanted "Go home!" to men they saw. Apparently, this was a part of a social experiment to cut violence. When men were barred from the streets of the Columbia's capital Bogota on Friday night and few machos dared to venture out into prey for screaming female mobs.

Bogota's eccentric Mayor Antanas Mockus, a philosopher and mathematician, banned men from the streets for one night so they could reflect on the fact that they cause most of the violence in one of the world's most violent countries.

The experiment apparently worked. And police reported only one murder compared to an average of five on a normal Friday night in this city of 6 million people.

When the curfew began at 7:30 P.M. Local time, many menseemed determined to ignore it. But as the night wore on and female spirits bubbled over, boys and men were chased away.

"It seems a great idea. They should do it several Times ayear. Tonight is ours," said Ana Rodriguez, a well-dressed woman sitting in a park clutching a bottle of whiskey.

"A night without men will cut accidents and violence," saidNilsa Moya, 35, as she danced in an ecstatic all-female crowd on the steps of a bar.