together transport professionals (as well as transport operators and plan- ners) with sociologists and women’s groups to exchange information and work on a tool kit for cities and other authorities. Suggestions on how to address women’s only transport and the use of technology will be investi- gated. This can provide useful guid- ance for both the developed and the developing world.
GENDER NEUTRAL Making public transport safe is not just an issue for women as it should be safe for everyone. Men suf- fer from violent attacks more than women, although rape of course does happen. The daily insidious harassment of visual or verbal is different to this. CCTV cameras are part of a technical solution that can help to provide an increased level of security but most of all we need to work on public awareness and a zero tolerance approach combined with clear indications of what to do if you find yourself in such a situation. Safe and Sound found that programmes that helped to quickly identify the perpetrators were very effective and part of this is encouraging women to know when something is beyond being acceptable and know how to say so. Clearly advertised panic but- tons and help lines help to inform women (or anyone for that matter) of what they can and should do.
by car. Looking at the statistics com- paring public transport and cars – this is certainly not the case! However, this should not be seen as
a feminist issue but rather as a socio- economic one. Women (and men) need to have safe and affordable access to all types of public transport and this will also positively impact local and national economic develop- ment. The contrary is also true – and from this research it seems more true for men. Women will just reduce their transport horizons if they per- ceive that transport is not safe. As we live more in urban and peri-urban areas we need to reassure women that taking public transport is the right thing to do. Having gender in the text of these
Women must be convinced that
public transport is safe for them to travel on and much more effort needs to be put here. It is important that women continue to use public trans- port, as we know we need to increase our usage and recognize that many women are already doing this more then men are. Yet here is the rub. If you have ever travelled with small chil- dren on public transport you will know how difficult this is. So cars become more desirable at different life stages. As women become more empowered they also buy cars, often thinking that they and their families are safer going
international agreements helps to make it easier for governments to increase their efforts towards ensur- ing that women are able to take part more actively in all aspects of life. But more importantly if we are to achieve the ambitions of these international agreements – whether they are connected with sustainable devel- opment, climate change or a new inclusive urban agenda – we need to understand better what women need and want especially in a city context. We need to bring Venus a little closer to Mars – or make the unimaginable a reality.
FYI
Having gender in the text of these international agreements helps to make it easier for governments to increase their efforts towards ensuring that women are able to take part more actively in all aspects of life
Heather Allen is an independent consultant on sustainable transport, gender and climate change working with FIA Foundation and Sustainable Low Carbon Transport Partnership (SLoCaT)
heather@heatherallen.co www.slocat.net
www.fiafoundation.org/ connect/publications/ safe-and-sound
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Safety and Security in Transport
A NEW URBAN AGENDA
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