session 6.2 – gender security & public transport
DESCRIPTION
Presenter - Sanya SethTRANSCRIPT
Supporting Safer Communities
Content
About SafetiPin•Safety Audits•SafetiPin Wall•New Features
About Safety Chaupal•Infrastructure •Operation
Work with Delhi Transport Corporation•Training of staff•Terminals audited•Key Findings•Recommendations
About SafetiPin
Safetipin is a map-based online and mobile phone application that works to make our communities and cities safer by providing safety-related information collected by users and trained auditors
What is Safetipin
1. To develop a measure for Safety that can become a global standard
2. To provide extensive, reliable, safety data to all stakeholders
3. To engage citizens, communities and service providers in making cities safer
Safetipin Goals
Safetipin Features– Conduct Safety
Audits– Report
Harassment or Hazards
– Safety Score of Areas
– Tracking– Important
numbers to call– Locate nearest
police stop or hospital
Audits
• Each audit or report of harassment, hazard or place will appear as a pin on the Safetipin app
• Each point gets uploaded immediately and is then available for anyone to see.
• The red pins signify unsafe points, orange a bit safer and green pins would be relatively safe points.
Harassment Hazards Places
Circles of Interest
The SafetiPin Safety Score
• Calculated at any point (specific latitude-longitude) based on a combination of nearby audit pins and public domain information
• Gives a score out of 5 – ranging from Excellent to Poor
• In order to make sure that Safetipin can benefit women and girls in low income neighbourhoods, we have devised the concept of creating safety chaupals (centres )
Safety Chaupal
Impact Project - Safety Centres• Infrastructure– At least one computer with internet
connectivity– At least one smart phone or tablet
with internet and GPS available periodically
• Operation– Any person with a safety-related
complaint can come and have it recorded in Safetipin
– Periodic audits of the area to track changes after initiatives
– Advocacy and Regular discussion with the community on safety
Women and Public Transit
• Research shows that women do trip chaining – multi purpose trips
• More short trips around the city• Diverse purposes• Often combining domestic, child care and
work
Some findings from studies• Poorly considered land-use zoning policy separates
residential areas from employment locations, with a greater impact on women’s mobility.
• Women make more complex journeys than men, often travelling to childcare, school, work, and shops. More than twice as many women as men are responsible for escorting children to school.
• Majority of bus journeys are undertaken by women• Poor public transport and lack of caring facilities and
shopping outlets near employment locations restrict women’s access to the labour market.
• Women feel less safe than men being out alone after dark, especially in the inner city, or social housing complexes.
Gender Responsive Public Transport• Bus routes that cater to women’s routes and places they
travel to• “Request stop’” programmes that allow women to get off
closer to destination in the early morning and nights• Subway and bus stop design that is women friendly• Women only buses and metro cars where there are high
crowds and reports of sexual harassment• Provision of cycling and NMT lanes for women and
children• Well lit and designed walk paths in and around bus
stops/stations and metro/train stations• Affordable public transit• Organising informal modes of transport
Gender exclusion and violence against women
Research findings in revealed that public transport was an area where women face particularly high levels of sexual harassment and fear. Survey results showed that 35 per cent of respondents felt unsafe in, or waiting for, public transport.
In FGDs, women repeatedly spoke about their fears and negative experiences while using all forms of public transport: buses, metro, auto rickshaws and taxis.
“In college the worst thing happened to me. I was travelling by bus and there was this guy sitting on the bonnet… The bus was full, so I went and stood near the bonnet. And this guy started rubbing his foot on my leg. I suddenly pushed him with my leg. He got up and slapped, he slapped me so hard”
Working with Transport Corporation
As part of the Safe Delhi Campaign, a partnership was forged in 2006 with Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC) through an initiative launched by the Chief Minister of Delhi. It included • Training of 3600 bus drivers and conductors on gender
sensitivity and sexual harassment on buses• messaging on buses and at bus depots• the creation of a helpline for women passengers.
In 2009 a review session was conducted where the bus drivers and conductors remembered the content and requested follow up sessions.
Addressing women’s safety on public transport
It was also recommended that training on gender sensitization should be given to new DTC drivers and conductor who were not a part of original training session.
Jagori worked with instructors from the DTC training institute, building their capacity to deliver gender training and, at the same time, developing curriculum modules on women’s safety.
To address women’s safety in public transport more widely, Jagori has also been working with a women’s taxi service that was set up to train women to drive. This was a pioneering initiative in Delhi where there were no cabs driven by women. Jagori worked with 65 women who were training to be cab drivers and built their capacity to work in a male-dominated space.
Information on human rights, gender, sexual harassment and self-defence was provided.
Working with the DTC
‘Training 40, 000 work force through 47 instructors’Module on women’s safety in curriculum
Audits conducted at DTC Bus Terminals using Safetipin
Safety audits were conducted for 6 busiest DTC bus terminals to identify key safety concerns.
Audits at the terminal were conducted in June-July 2014, between 6- 8 pm. On an average, 12 safety audits were conducted at each terminal at the main terminal as well as the 30 meters of area outside the terminalA separate report card was made for each terminal to give a detailed analysis for terminals audited.
Light Open Visibility Crowd Security Path Gender Usage
0
0.2
0.4
0.6
0.8
1
1.2
1.4
1.6
Mehrauli Bus Terminal Audits
Light Open Visibility Crowd Security Path Gender Usage
0
0.2
0.4
0.6
0.8
1
1.2
1.4
1.6
Nehru Place Audits
Area Av Rating DescriptionLight 1.9 – Above
averageOverall the bus terminal is well lit with light poles functioning. The terminal offices are also well lit and there is ample light from the street lights from main road.
Openness 2.0 – Above average
The terminal is quite open. People are able to look in most of the directions.
Visibility 0.8 – Poor There are few food stalls outside the terminal that overlook the entrance and exit of the terminal. However, there are no shops to keep an eye on the activities inside the terminal.
Crowd 1.3 – Below average
There is considerable crowd at the exit of the terminal. However, there are only few people at the entrance and main terminal area.
Security 0.3 – Poor There is no visible security at the terminal. The only known security is at the shops across the street.
Walk Path 2.9 – Excellent Walk path is well constructed and comfortable to walk on, without any interference.
Gender Usage 1.0 – Below average
Gender diversity in the crowd at the terminal is low at the main terminal and entrance. Despite the benches available, women and children chose to use benches available near the exit area
Recommendations• Improve light at the terminals for clear vision of the area. • Appoint security guards to monitor activities at the
terminal• Build good walk paths to enable people to access the
terminal better. Walk paths with ramps will make the terminal disabled friendly.
• Provide seating across the terminal to encourage more people, especially women, elderly and children to wait inside the bus terminal.
• Build public toilets inside the terminal to encourage people to access the main terminal, and use the area.
• Have stalls or vendors inside the terminal who can overlook at the main terminal and keep an eye on the activities.
Broken walk path outside Terminal office
Main terminal where passengers wait for buses
Supporting Safer Communities
THANK YOU