Dear Editor,
Plenty of people travel every day in cities using public transport. Women and girls are among the travellers for different purposes. Still, women using public transportation face a near-constant threat of harassment, abuse, and violence. This threat is even more sensitive and impacts their daily activities like how they choose to travel, at what time of day, and with whom.
It’s a very serious and critical issue in our society because in this advanced world, almost every girl comes to university for higher education and they need safer transportation for travelling. But as we all know how bad our public transport is, especially for girls. As a result, many girls may have been restricted from going over because they felt unsafe and hadn’t told their families about this issue. Many girls are forced to use public vehicles due to a lack of options.
Dealing with this issue involves a combination of efforts including Safe waiting areas, Improved awareness campaigns, Technological solutions, and Community involvement. By combining these efforts, it is possible to improve the safety and overall experience of girls using public transportation, especially during their commute home from university. Cities can and should take on the responsibility of making their public transport system safer for female students because “A safe city is a just city”.
Therefore, cities must focus on constructing gender-sensitive public transport service plans and policies that consider girls’ needs in public transportation.
Laiba Fajar
Sukkur