A product of WRI Ross Center for Sustainable Cities

WOMEN’S SAFETY IN TRANSPORT LIMITATIONS OF TECHNOLOGY

INDIAN SCENARIO

48.5% women 30% women2004-05 – 37%2009-10 – 29%2012-13 – 27%

Urban – 14.6%Rural – 26.5%

Photo: Meena Kadri/ flicker

POPULATION WORK FORCE PARTICIPATION

WOMEN WORK FORCE

PARTICIPATION RATE

URBAN RURAL DIVIDE

Global Women’s Work Force Participation: 120th Out of 131

Sources: Census, 2011; World Economic Forum, 2013; NSSO; International Labour Organization’s Global Employment Trends 2013 & World Bank

Lowest Female Work Force Participation among BRICKS nations

Violence against women in transport

Restricts a woman’s freedom of movement

Impacts a woman’s access to economic and social activities

Women’s safety in transport is important

WHY WOMEN SAFETY IN TRANSPORT IS IMPORTANT

Photo: Meena Kadri/ flicker

Source: National Crime Records Bureau &Nita Bhalla, 2014 , http://in.reuters.com/

Survey of non-working women in the city showed

that lack of safety was one of the biggest reasons for

their decision of not working3

51.4% women faced sexual harassment while using public

transport&

49% of men reported to have witnessed women being

harassed1

TECHNOLOGICAL SOLUTION FOR WOMEN SAFETY ?

CCTV Camera GPS Tracking

Safety Apps

Can these alone solve the problem?

NEED TO LOOK AT WOMEN SAFETY IN TRANSPORT

Photo: EMBARQ/ flicker

More dependent on public transport, specially when part of the lower income

strata

Women’s travel patterns are different from that of men

The difficulty faced by women with regard to their mobility – a form of social exclusion

affecting all aspects of their lives – particularly economic growth

Technology has its role to play but alone cannot solve the issue of women

safety

PRINCIPLES

DesigningSolutions

Analysis of Issues

PRINCIPLES

Analysis of Issues

Collect Gender Disaggregated Data

PRINCIPLES – ANALYSIS OF ISSUES

PRINCIPLE : 1

Women’s travel patterns differ greatly from that of men*

*Source : EMBARQ Public Transport Survey, Bhopal Photo: EMBARQ/ flicker

Safety - Criteria for choosing mode of travel for 21% women and only 10% of men

Work trips - 60% of all trips made by men but only 33% for women

>30% women travel with dependents while only <16% men do so

70% women spend less than men in their household on transport expenses/month

FINDINGS FROM THE STUDY IN BHOPAL

PRINCIPLES – ANALYSIS OF ISSUES

PRINCIPLE : 2

Look at Safety Issues in the Entire Journey

Looking at safety issues in the entire journey

Different Journey Legs

No street light & Footpath

Encroached Footpaths

Unsheltered Bus Stop

Conductors blocking the doorway

OvercrowdingNo Reserved seats and

emergency numbers display

Unsheltered Stop

Access Trip Waiting at the Stop Boarding & Alighting

Aboard/on the busEgress Trip Boarding & Alighting

CASE STUDY: BHOPAL

Designing Solutions

PRINCIPLES

Technological Solutions to be complemented by Human Centric Solutions

PRINCIPLES – DESIGNING SOLUTIONS

PRINCIPLE : 3

Women been harassed while using public transport*

Women face harassment on a regular basis

High level of Harassment of women in public transport*

believe women harassment not a prevalent issue

believe women responsible for harassment committed against them

Biased perception of on-ground staff on harassment

LEVEL OF HARRASSMENT

*Public transport includes regular buses, tata magics and mini buses Photo: EMBARQ/ flicker

88%

40%

100%

30%

Uniform Solutions across Different Types of Transport Modes

PRINCIPLES – DESIGNING SOLUTIONS

PRINCIPLE : 4

Metro

Cabs Cycle Rickshaws

Uniform practices for all modes of transport

Auto Rickshaw

PUBLIC TRANSPORT MODES IN CITIES

Bus

Holistic Solutions

PRINCIPLES – DESIGNING SOLUTIONS

PRINCIPLE : 5

Service Planning & Operations

Enforcement/ Grievance system

Infrastructure & Vehicles

Institutional Capacity

HOLISTIC SOLUTIONS

Service Planning & Operations

Enforcement/ Grievance system

Infrastructure & Vehicles

Institutional Capacity

• Footpath Design standards

• Street Light standards

• Protocols for bus stop placement

• Provision of bus shelter

• Women Friendly bus stop design

• Manager security & Vigilance

• BCLL Women safety Committee

• Safe City Standing Committee

• Women Safety & gender sensitivity training

• Women Safety Campaign

• Protocols for Bus operations

• Operations training

• ITS Solutions

• Special Bus Pass for Women

• Stop on Request

• Women employees

• More Nirbhaya Vans

• Provision of Help Lines

• Common database of bus personnel

CASE STUDY: SOLUTIONS FOR BHOPAL

Large number of cities currently use technology based solutions , especially for women’s safety

Help in giving a structure to the

approach for addressing women’s

safety

Help in choosing appropriate

technology centric and human centric

solutions for addressing the

problem

Help in problems identified to be

addressed appropriately and

effectively

The principles will help addressing the problem wholistically

THANK YOU