Urban policies should prioritize women’s mobility to ensure that women have safe and inclusive access to employment, education, care services, and leisure. Cities are often designed to fit the needs of able-bodied men, or a neutral, often male, user, which can constrain women’s access to these services. Sexual harassment in public spaces is also a significant threat that deters women from stepping out. Addressing gender concerns in urban mobility and public spaces requires a long-term commitment from multiple stakeholders, with solutions aimed at addressing deep-rooted issues. To create safer public spaces, cities need to undertake assessments, safety audits, and build capacity and awareness. The World Bank has developed a toolkit for the Indian context, which both government and private agencies can use to make cities safer and more inclusive of women. Making cities safer can help increase female labour force participation and boost economic performance in India.
The Importance of Women’s Mobility in Urban Policy
Urban policies should prioritize women’s mobility, as historically, cities have been designed to fit the needs of able-bodied men or a neutral, often male, user. Women and girls experience cities differently and find their access to employment, education, care services, and leisure constrained when urban mobility systems and public spaces are not safe and inclusive.
Studies in Indian cities have shown that concerns about commuting safely during the late evening hours or beyond a particular radius are among the biggest barriers to girls and women going to school, college, and work. Barriers to mobility can thwart women’s long-term aspirations, eroding their financial independence and agency. Sexual harassment in public spaces is also a significant threat that deters women from stepping out. Strategies must be devised to prevent and penalize sexual harassment.
Gender-disaggregated data is needed to understand women’s mobility patterns and design public transport services accordingly. Women typically travel shorter distances at off-peak hours and make chained trips, frequently changing between transport modes to complete multiple tasks, balancing domestic errands and employment.
The Mumbai Railway Vikas Corporation identified women’s safety as a key priority and devised solutions to make platforms, stations, and trains safer for women. These solutions addressed the fundamental design of the infrastructure to make it more women-friendly, going beyond just introducing women-only trains. Hiring more female staff can also make travel safer, as seen in Kochi, where 80% of the metro staff are women.
Deep-rooted social norms restrict women’s movement outside their homes, and local communities must be brought on board as partners to help shift these norms around women’s mobility. Community-based organizations have been working across cities such as Delhi, Gurugram, and Pune to sensitize communities and provide gender sensitization training for frontline public transport workers.
The Importance of Addressing Gender Concerns in Urban Mobility
Under the Nirbhaya Fund, the Indian Centre provides valuable resources to states and central ministries to implement solutions for enhancing women’s safety. Since 2015, eight cities have used these funds to identify hotspots for crime, enhance police capacity for investigating crimes against women, and establish one-stop centres for violence survivors.
The Greater Chennai Corporation established a Gender and Policy Lab, which will support the government of Tamil Nadu in implementing projects under the Nirbhaya Fund to create safer public spaces in the city. An assessment to understand gender differences in mobility was carried out, alongside a safety audit, in Tondiarpet in north Chennai. The installation of CCTV cameras and panic buttons in city buses is also underway, with Chennai’s Metropolitan Transport Corporation establishing a command-and-control centre to monitor incidents of harassment.
Addressing gender concerns in urban mobility and public spaces requires a long-term commitment from multiple stakeholders, with solutions aimed at addressing deep-rooted issues. The World Bank has developed a toolkit for the Indian context, which both government and private agencies can use to make cities safer and more inclusive of women.
The toolkit outlines a four-pillar approach: assess the ground situation to understand gender-disaggregated mobility patterns and undertake safety audits; strengthen policies with a focus on fare policies and grievance redressal for sexual harassment; build capacity and raise awareness within government agencies and through partnerships with community-based organisations; and improve infrastructure and services with a special emphasis on women’s safety and inclusion.
Making cities safer can help increase female labour force participation and boost economic performance in India.
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