ISLAMABAD: In making public transportation facilities accessible, safe and `harassment-free’ for women and girls, a pilot project has been launched on Monday to conduct women’s safety audit in public transport to assess issues of women’s safety and increase their participation in local decision-making.
Internationally recognised as a `best practice’, a women’s safety audit tool is being introduced in Pakistan for the first time, a press release said.
Local studies on women’s mobility reveal that women’s movement and their use of public transport is compromised due to the discomfort, social stigma and fear of harassment experienced as a result of being compelled to sit in close contact with unrelated men.
The Government of Punjab has attempted to address these concerns through their transport policy by introducing separate sections in buses and running women-only buses.
However, the challenges still persist in ensuring women’s safety and comfort on public transport.
As a part of its `Safe Cities’ project, the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women in collaboration with Punjab’s Women Development Department (WDD) and Aurat Foundation (AF) will pilot a Women’s Safety Audit in Lahore with support from the Government of Australia.
In addition to determining on-ground safety issues faced by female commuters, through interviews, focus group discussions and safety walks, the Safety Audit will also provide statistics on the types and levels of threat faced by women, identify gaps and barriers to transport services to prevent and respond to harassment and put forward actionable recommendations for the local government, transport authorities, corporates and other stakeholders to end violence against women travelers.
The Safety Audit will be conducted in select bus stops operated by the Lahore Transport Company (LTC) and the Metro Bus System (MBS).
Jamshed Kazi UN Women Pakistan Country Representative, speaking of the `Safe Cities’ project said, “Gender equality, women’s empowerment and the prevention of violence against women in private and public spaces is a precondition for and objective of sustainable urban development”.
