Studying Public Transport in Lahore: An Analysis of Harassment of Women Passengers

Abstract

While commuting through public transport (busses, wagons, rikhshaws, and
chingchis), women’s verbal, physical and psychological abuse in public spaces is
though pervasive but often invisible in nature. In recent years, the need to
address this gender issue has increased because of growing education and
employment trend among urban women, along with increased urbanization,
which necessitate females to travel far-flung areas for colleges/universities and
employment purposes. The victims are low-middle and poor class women. While
using public transport, apart from an obstruction in academic and professional
accomplishments, such harassment also creates physical and emotional injuries.
Driven by insufficient information on this subject; this study is a delicate attempt
to understand the magnitude of different shapes of harassments and abuses
against women, while traveling through public transport in the metropolitan
city of Lahore. For the purpose of this study, the survey questionnaire (205
respondents) and two focus group discussions (20 participants each) between
the age of 14 to 50, from middle and low-middle families in Lahore is conducted.
Apart, the interviews with 5 traffic wardens in Lahore are designed, to
understand the viewpoint of traffic police about the growing number of street
and transport harassment incidents