Public Transportation: Facility or Problem for Female Students

Muhammad Arslan Sohail and Dr. Farkhanda Anjum

Education is one of the basic tools to compete the world. It has a profound effect on women’s ability to claim other rights and achieve status in society, such as economic independence and political representation. It not helps in heisting up the economic condition of a country, but also plays an important role in the building up of an individual's personality and the status of a nation as whole. But there are many problems that females have to face in society when they dream for higher education; one of them is Family values, early marriage and poor infrastructure of transportation. Students live in far off areas from university, travel through public transport. The study is more concerned with identifying the problems and suggesting all the possible remedies facing by female students while using public transport in reaching their institutions. The miserable condition of public transport and its environment strongly effect the decision of getting admission in university. So a survey was conducted to evaluate all the problems that female students have to face during travelling and how their studies and health affected by transportation problem. If we confiscate above said hurdles to the maximum possible extent, we will see remarkable changes in the literacy rate and contribution of female to this country and society. When the females which occupies more than half of our population, is empowered, educated and feel secured and confident then undeniably Pakistan will be able to get a better society and a better nation. On the same side, we can save our natural resources and ultimately benefit national economy as well as the family income. As Napoleon said

“Give me good mothers I will give you good nation”

Need of this hour is to provide a good transport infrastructure at affordable fares and enforcement of laws by the Govt. of Pakistan. By this we can get long-term benefits. These things definitely will be a sigh of relief for the whole nation especially for female and a better representation of being a civilized nation in world

This piece was co-authored by Laura Bates

Ask a man his number one priority when it comes to public transport. Most likely he will  say ‘speed’. Ask a woman the same question and chances are that she will answer ‘safety’.

Sexual harassment on public transport is an everyday occurrence for millions of girls and women living in Pakistan. From verbal abuse to being followed, from unwanted sexual comments to physical assault, the stories are strikingly similar, regardless of the geography. Sexual harassment in public spaces remains a largely neglected issue.

A poll released by the reveals that 32% of women in Pakistan say they have been verbally harassed on public transport; 19% were victims of direct physical abuse. These numbers are worrying, especially because women are the main users of public transport in most metropolitan areas. The figures are also particularly alarming because fear has dramatic consequences for women’s behavior: if they feel that going somewhere would put them at risk, in many cases, women won’t go. In some rural areas, this translates into girls missing higher education.

According to survey 75% females of university face harassment during travel towards to reach the educational institute but 71% did not inform their family about this incidence while 28% inform their family, The reason behind these results families not allow female to get higher education in the price of their safety.

Drivers of public transport buses and vans have numerous back mirrors in front of their driving seat. The drivers set those mirrors in such a way that they could see the ladies sitting behind him from every angle, upside down and left-side right, and right-side left. In Pakistani public transport, normally the section behind the driver seat is allocated for the female passengers. It is common, very common occurrence in the buses that drivers keep winking, smiling and making faces at the girls in those mirrors. It has become such a routine that ladies have learned to not look into those mirrors at all and if it becomes avoidable, they just ignore it, suffering and fuming inside. The conductors, the fare collector boy prefers to stand in that ladies compartment all the time, jostling him forward and falling purposefully on the girls and poking his dirty fingers here and there. Most of the girls suffer in silence, trying to save themselves.

There are not just these two goons. In rush hours, men climb from the front door into the buses and make every effort to stand as close to girls section as possible, or even some of them ram into that section and stubbornly remain there, and even fight. I have myself seen person giving extra money to the conductor so that he could stand in female section, and conductor turns a blind eye. For girls, walk from home to the bus stop, waiting for bus, boarding the bus, and then completing bus journey and then walk to their colleges or offices is a hellish experience every day. Boys follow them, tease them and spank them all along the way. Same happens at the bus stop, and while boarding frenzy due to rush and lack of transport and tension of reaching offices and colleges on time, girls suffer through pinching, slapping, name calling, fingers, hands and even bites. Same story happens after alighting from bus and reaching the destination and then facing the dirty eyes and other harassment all day, and then same story gets repeated in journey back home.

The government must establish different complaint cells near different local bus stops, so that the women can feel free to register their complaints and so that these cells act as a deterrent for unruly element. Women-only public transport will also help working women and might be necessary till attitudes and practices on the ground change for the better. But attitudes must change if any measure is to be effective. If people will not respect the right of women to work about freely, no measures will amount to anything. Therefore, we must strive to change our attitudes and educate others as well. Like Metro bus service, increased use of Bus Rapid Transit, which is an “express bus service that can be implemented at relatively low cost and provide students with more comfort, faster travel times, and increased reliability compared to typical city transit bus service” Higher authorities should discuss the importance of capacity building, public participation, and enforcement for improving women’s safety. Police, transport agencies, and advocacy organizations need to collaborate and coordinate with one another to reduce sexual harassment and violence in public transport, because individual and isolated initiatives like CCTV cameras are not enough on their own. Instead, transport agencies need to measure, plan, implement, monitor, evaluate, and share insights in order to make long-term progress and deliver concrete improvements. This requires clearly allocating responsibilities and identifying individuals so that ideas and initiatives are successfully implemented. Transport should equitably serve all students, regardless of gender. Women don’t have genuine access to transport if transport systems aren’t designed to meet their distinct mobility needs, and if public spaces aren’t safe or even perceived as safe. Otherwise the only solution to this is that either the girls stop getting out of their homes or die ignorant or government runs ample public transport just allocated for girls, driven by the women. This would not eliminate their woes but would lessen the pain and agony.