Since the launch of the SHE CAN TOOL, The Lagos Metropolitan Area Transport Authority (LAMATA) has constantly worked to deploy various measures. The case study showcases their success factors as well as the expected short and long term results.
Across the world, women face real and perceived threats of gender-based violence, assault, and harassment (GBVAH) while traveling. Studies have repeatedly shown that sexual harassment on public transport is widespread in both the developed and developing parts of the world.
Across the world, women face real and perceived threats of gender-based violence, assault, and harassment (GBVAH) while traveling. Studies have repeatedly shown that sexual harassment on public transport is widespread in both the developed and developing parts of the world.
Over time, several bottom-up strategies have emerged to protect female public transport passengers from sexual harassment. Although effective in terms of managing personal risks, these strategies come at a high cost to personal freedom and access to opportunities for the women who employ them. They should be regarded as a response to the problem, not a solution to it.
The simple act of ‘stepping outside’ the residential quarters is often linked to fear – from a young age, girls are taught to avoid walking on certain streets after certain hours; being alone in certain areas/neighbourhoods; wearing certain types of clothing, the ignoring of which might lead to incidences of GBVAH, and effectively it becoming the victim’s fault.
Sexual harassment in public transport is an undisputed social hazard associated with (in)formal public transit systems. Incidents occur all over the globe, in the developed world, as well as in developing world settings. Apart from suffering the abuse itself, passengers are negatively impacted when fear of becoming a victim starts to limit their free and unencumbered access to the opportunities (be it economic, education, healthcare, social or leisure) that transportation can connect them to. A Kenyan study in 2015 reports 54% of female respondents had experienced some form of gender-based violence while in public transport. The consequence of the related fear could encourage and exacerbate inequalities within societies affected. This paper describes the SHE CAN tool, its contents and structure and how it can be used by stakeholders to mitigate this negative impact of public transport and introduces the tool to the South African transport fraternity. This paper was written by TE LANE-VISSER* and MJWA VANDERSCHUREN**
In both developed and developing countries, the mobility and freedom of movement of women is significantly affected by the design and layout of the public spaces they utilise and travel through. It is within these spaces that a large amount of, often unreported and unaddressed, sexual harassment occurs. The engineers responsible for developing these public spaces are often unable to adequately include a gender perspective in their designs. As a result, the goal of the "Tell Me How You See It" tool is to provide a workbook and checklist to developers and decision-makers to include gender perspectives in the design of mobility-based infrastructure. A social organisation, called Safetipin, works tirelessly to make public areas safer and more welcoming for women by collaborating with a variety of urban stakeholders, including governments (Safetipin, 2023). This paper was written by AG NEWLANDS, FB GROSSE-WEISCHEDE and MJWA VANDERSCHUREN.
This report elaborates on the results of the EMPOWER project. Starting with an overview of the prevalence of sexual harassment in public transport in our research countries and beyond. It then introduces the SHE CAN Model, the EMPOWER approach to data collection and the SHE CAN Tool as well as offers conclusions on how users can best exploit the Tool across their organisations.
This report elaborates on the type and extent of GBVAH found in urban areas and the consistency of these findings across the globe. It also sets out to facilitate the first step in tackling sexual harassment, which is understanding how this issue and public transport intersect, the variations in different contexts, and steps to address it.
