LAHORE: A report on ‘Women’s Safety Audit in Public Transport’ says that Lahore bus stations and buses are not women friendly.
Women and girls face staring, stalking, obscene gestures, whistling, lewd remarks and touching while commuting in public buses.
The
report was launched by the Aurat Publication and Information Service
Foundation at a local hotel on Tuesday where Margaret Adamson,
Australian high commissioner to Pakistan, was chief guest. The study was
conducted by Aurat Foundation and Co-led by the Women’s Development
Department of Punjab and the UN Women, in collaboration with the Punjab
Commission on the Status of Women, the Chief Minister’s Strategic Reform
Unit and the Punjab Safe Cities Authority.
Margaret
Adamson said there was need to focus on a clear way enhancing
contribution to women’s safety while traveling and at public places.
Jamshed
Qazi, country representative of the UN Women Pakistan, said one did not
see many women and girls at public places in cities as sexual
harassment was a big hurdle. He said the Punjab government introduced a
good initiative of ‘Women on Wheels’, whereas civil society activists
introduced ‘Girls at Dhaba’. He said the mobility of women at public
places was a real challenge.
Women’s Development
Department Secretary Bushra Aman said the dream of the future was such
where both men and women were treated equally and had equal rights and
opportunities. She said work was under way to build separate waiting
areas space for women at bus stations.
The Women’s Audit
in Public Transport in Lahore assesses the safety concerns of women and
girls commuters of public transport in Lahore. Focusing on the bus
services provided by the Lahore Transport Company (LTC) and Metro Bus,
it includes a detailed desk review, a perception study with 903 women
commuters and 100 bus drivers and conductors, key informant interviews,
and focus group discussions.
The study finds that
inadequate infrastructure and security arrangements, a gender neutral
approach by administrators and policymakers, social attitudes towards
women and girls, and lack of awareness among the general population
about the impacts of sexual harassment on women’s and girl’s lives, are
some of the major reasons why dramatic levels of harassment on public
transport have gone unnoticed and perhaps increased.
The
report reveals that data on women using public transport is not
currently available, limiting gender sensitive policies and actions.
There is limited use of travel cards by women, and about 79 per cent of
women and girls traveling on the metro bus service do not process travel
cards. There are significant safety concerns at bus stops as about 82
per cent of women commuters report harassment at bus stops, with higher
rates at LTC bus stops compared to metro bus stations, and amongst
younger women (20-29 years of age) compared to older women.
