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.