A more diverse workforce is directly related to addressing sexual harassment in the workplace. This is based on expert opinion and experience. Employing more women in the transport sector is one step in the right direction of achieving a more equal workforce. Recognizing and treating women employed in the sector as equals is another.

A case study example of this intervention comes from Santiago, Chile, where women bus drivers are often faced with prejudices against them and the fact that several private operators refuse to hire them. To combat this, Transantiago public transport agency developed an awards program. The public can vote for the Best Male and Best Female Bus Drivers. This award was designed to recognise women bus drivers and to complement the award already given to men.

Within a year, all bus companies had a small but growing contingent of women bus drivers so that they could compete for the award, which is important for their rather low public image. This also highlighted women’s role and contributions to the quality of public transport before the general public.

The award provides an opportunity for the public to see that women may also successfully apply to become bus drivers, as well as recognise they already work in the system. The winner could also visit and give talks in a local school to help break down barriers about the sort of jobs that women are able to do.

This increased the number of qualified drivers in Santiago as there was a shortage [1].

Additional reading on the improvement of workplace diversity and its impacts on reducing sexual harassment can be found in the following literature: [2], [3], [4], [5] and [6].