Taking the metro to the workplace, calling Careem or Uber to go shopping or In-driving to favourite outdoor dining places, when travelling is never constrained by the constraint of not owning a car, it feels so empowering, doesn’t it?
For men, yes; but not so for women.
For this other half, it doesn’t take long for the unrelenting thrill of travel to quickly translate into a serious threat to travel. Travelling alone is never a safe option for women in Pakistan even in broad daylight. Let alone the travails of travelling at night. Now and then you’ll hear appalling stories of harassment and abuse.
I remember a recent incident that happened with a friend. She had called a cab, and the moment the vehicle hit the road, the driver began to touch himself inappropriately. This is just one of the many instances of harassment that occur each day. And harassment is not always explicitly sexual.
Cab drivers often tend to pressure women to pay more than the fare at which the ride was booked. Female passengers, especially young girls, often complain of being verbally intimidated by drivers to pay extra or simply get off and cancel the ride. But this problem is not limited to cab drivers only.
Most public transit systems have not been designed to address women’s concerns in the last-mile journey.
I remember an incident when the conductor of a local wagon asked a woman to disembark from the vehicle and wait for the next one or pay an extra fare for one seat if she did not want a man to sit next to her. When the woman pleaded that she couldn’t afford the extra fare, and it was already getting dark, the conductor bluntly told her to let a man sit beside her.
Luckily for her, the men sitting inside the vehicle admonished the conductor. Still, the issue was settled only when some of them agreed to pay the extra fare for letting the seat go empty.
The woman was embarrassed and traumatized. But for what fault? She had already paid the fare for her seat, and all she demanded was a safe space.
But this concept of safe space is missing from our discourse.
Most transport projects are designed keeping in view cost and efficiency. Equity is also considered but more so from a spatial perspective. Gender-based transport access needs more attention.
A few easy and quick remedies can be implemented straight away.
Some ride-hailing apps have already installed safety features in their apps which is a welcome step. Installing cameras inside all (or at least some vehicles) would also increase safety. In addition, designing algorithms that monitor the location of the driver, passenger and vehicle and set off alerts in case of any deviation from the route is also vital for enhancing security.
Proper security checks or at least a character certificate from the police could also be made mandatory for drivers. While some companies may already be implementing such measures, it is imperative to incorporate them into our regulatory regimes to ensure uniform safety and security standards and strict monitoring by the government.
Moreover, an innovative approach could include providing security-related information about a route. Such information could include statistics on local crime and the population density of a given area. This would be especially helpful for women not familiar with a certain area. And these measures should not be limited to cab drivers. Local wagons and buses should also be made to comply with such measures.
In addition, there is a significant need for improvement in the condition of the local wagons to allow for better separation between seats so that women can sit next to male passengers while retaining their safe space. Although these measures would provide public transport companies with an excuse to increase fares, the government can keep a check on fares through various regulatory tools. All these measures would improve the experience on the route.
However, the journey from home to the station also needs a gendered perspective.
This is what is known as the “last mile” journey. Most public transit systems have not been designed to address women’s concerns in the last-mile journey.
For men, this may not be a huge concern. But for women, this last leg of the journey is a major safety problem especially at night and particularly in areas where streetlights are also dysfunctional. Proper street lighting and network optimization to reduce last-mile journeys are key steps in providing safer transport for women.
Lastly, it is also important to recognize the varying nature and travel needs of urban and rural women. Metro buses or trains which provide a better travelling experience for women exist only in a few cities. Moreover, strategies that may work in urban cities like Islamabad, Lahore and Karachi may not work in a small, remote rural village in any of our provinces. So, integrating urban and rural perspectives into safety policies for transport is also important.
If vehicles can’t provide safety and security to our women, this nation is certainly not travelling on the road to gender equity!
The writer works at the Forum for Women Development & Research – White Ribbon Alliance Pakistan Chapter. She can be contacted at [email protected]