February 8, 2018 Septemere 25, 2017 Mobility as Empowerment Are harassment, fear of victimization and public transport design impeding women s access to economic opportunity in Lahore? Dr. Ammar A. Malik (Urban Institute) Dr. Yasemin Irvin-Erickson (Urban Institute) Dr. Faisal Kamiran ITU Punjab)
Why is women s mobility important?
Why study this topic? Women disproportionately subjected to harassment and intimidation in urban public spaces They have unique transport needs but planning is gender blind Fear of sexual harassment, victimization and crime in public transit restricts access to jobs Lack of credible evidence on what works to improve women s mobility Little to no public discourse on harassment in Pakistan, including its economic and social implications
Our approach Creating an interdisciplinary team Principal Investigators: Criminologists, Transport and Policy Experts from Urban Institute Technology: ITU Punjab s Data Science Lab Implementation: HomeNet Pakistan & Local Universities Advisor: John Jay College of Criminal Justice, City University of New York Building on past and ongoing work by a network of researchers Massive Household Surveys: provide snapshot of pre- (JICA 2011) and post-metrobus (Majid, Malik & Vyborny 2016) situations Research projects: gender & mobility (Zolnik et al. 2017); economic impact evaluation of metrobus (Majid, Malik & Vyborny forthcoming); transport & land-use (Malik & Zolnik forthcoming); and urban planning (HomeNet 2011; 2012; 2015) When, how and where are safety concerns impeding women s mobility? Collecting real-time, place-specific data from custom smartphone app ReCapp is a data collection instrument, currently only available to field staff Real-time, place-specific responses on perceived risk of victimization Pilot app implementation completed with 14 field staff, interviews and focus groups
Introducing ReCAPP (Beta)
Perceived risks and surroundings
Interactive data portal
Spatial extent of pilot fieldwork
Summary of preliminary findings
Where are riders most vulnerable?
When are riders most vulnerable?
Differences Between Women s and Men s Fear Fear Indicators* Mean Difference (Men's fear rating - Women's fear rating) Significance Fear of Sexual Harrassment Walking -0.18 p=0.60 Fear of Sexual Harrassment Traveling on Public Transit -1.95 p<0.001 Fear of Sexual Harrassment Waiting for Public Transit -0.82 p<0.01 Overall Fear of Sexual Harrassment -0.82 p<0.001 Fear of Physical Assault Walking -0.19 p=0.46 Fear of Physical Assault Traveling on Public Transit -0.29 p=0.14 Fear of Physical Assault Waiting for Public Transit -0.1 p=0.5 Overall Fear of Physical Assault -0.38 p=0.001 Fear of Pickpocketing Walking -0.01 p=0.96 Fear of Pickpocketing Traveling on Public Transit -1.83 p<0.001 Fear of Pickpocketing Waiting for Public Transit -0.7 p=0.01 Overall Fear of Pickpocketing -0.66 P<0.001 Fear of Mugging Walking -0.47 p=0.18 Fear of Mugging Traveling on Public Transit -0.16 p=0.63 Fear of Mugging Waiting for Public Transit -0.42 p=0.10 Overall Fear of Mugging -0.48 p<0.01 *Fear of victimization is rated on a scale of 1 to 5, 1 indicating the lowest fear and 5 indicating the highest fear
Top suggestions for improvement
Interventions worth testing Improving queuing behaviors outside the metrobus network Information campaigns for women to be aware of laws and men to learn about impacts of their behavior Gender-sensitivity training of drivers, conductors and security staff Increase surveillance and enforcement, encourage reporting Improve bus stop and transit station facilities
Way forward Full fieldwork in Spring 2018 with local universities Robust evaluation design, exploiting natural experiment in Lahore Conductor vs Smart Card Women-only Sections, or Busses Driver Compartmentalization Women Reserved Seats Stops and Terminals Interactive fear mapping tool for policymakers, problem hotspots Project report, policy briefs, blogs and public event by Autumn 2018, feedback welcome!
Thanks for your attention, let s keep in touch! Dr. Ammar A. Malik amalik@urban.org