Transport woes belie women
BY GRACE AUKA SALMANG
NINTY per cent of women and girls experience violence and harassment at bus stops and while accessing public motor vehicles and taxis, according to a gender and transport study.
According to the study, violence and harassment faced by women on public transport was a big problem, with 69 per cent changing their travel plans after experiencing an incident. The study’s findings coincided with the International Women’s Day celebrations hosted by UN Women at Grand Papua Hotel.
UN Women’s Brenda Andrias said the study was undertaken as part of their safe public transport program but the findings were not for public distribution at this stage.
“The aim is to look at current issues with the existing public transport system and how women and men are using the system,” she said. “We undertook this study because we saw the links between women’s mobility and their access to economic, social and educational opportunities.
“Many times, we do not consider the mobility element of gender inequality.”
Ms Andrias said they looked at gender and equality in terms of violence against women but there were other issues of inequality, including women’s mobility and how they used public transport.
She said the study was started last year, in collaboration with the Road Transport Authority, using mobile technology to assess the existing routes that PMV buses took, talking to women and men commuters on PMVs and taxis, key stakeholders who ran the transport sector and the other users of public transport.
“Researchers travelled in PMVs to see whether PMVs were completing their route, taking shorter routes or whether they were facing exhaustion of bus fares and what issues women were facing,” Ms Andrias said.
With the findings revealing such problems faced by women and girls, RTA chief executive officer Nelson Tereme said such issues were complex and needed a wider participation of stakeholders.
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