Y4PT supports the #PT4ME Global Campaign for Advancing Safety of Women in Public Transport around the World

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In the framework of International Women’s Day 2018 (held on Thursday the 8th of March), UITP started working alongside the World Bank to launch the #PT4ME campaign – and unveiled a video across the world.

UITP is determined to advance the safety, security and opportunities for women in public transport, believing that public transport must be safe and secure for all users.

More than 70 public transport systems and organisations – with the number climbing each day – are promoting a shortened version of the video in train, metro, light rail, buses and stations/stops across the world.

The video is being shown by leading industry organisations such as Transdev, DB Arriva Group, Seoul Metro, CETUD-Dakar, Dubai Police, Ferrocarrils de la Generalitat de Catalunya and EMTU to name but a few.

During the World Urban Forum 2018 (WUF9, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia) and in collaboration with the World Bank and SPAD (Suruhanjaya Pengangkutan Awam Darat/Malaysian Land Public Transport Commission) UITP previewed the video at the SPAD Booth during this international event.

Now, UITP is delighted to launch the video encouraging gender inclusiveness. The message is simple: make public transport accessible for all.

“Together we can be the voice that will help women from all over the world have access to safer public transport environments”, said Mohamed Mezghani, UITP Secretary General.

Earlier this year UITP was pleased to announce the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding with the World Bank to collaborate on the safety and security of women in public transport – and to advance the achievement of common objectives. Mohamed Mezghani signed the MoU in Washington, D.C. and also featured on the panel of a plenary session with Transforming Transportation Conference.

This panel session was the very first of its kind to discuss gender in public transport at this international event.

As part of the panel session, titled ‘Transport is not Gender Neutral’, UITP and the World Bank first released the video to highlight the issues women face on public transport every day and their basic need to feel safe and secure.

On International Women’s Day UITP was in Karlsruhe, Germany for the IT-TRANS Conference and to commemorate this special day UITP had put plans in place to join forces with the powerful women featuring on the panel sessions.

Throughout the International Women’s Day 2018 UITP was very active on social media channels where women from all walks of life shared individual and special messages with you – this was a day not to be missed.

To embrace this important and powerful campaign join the official #PT4ME feed and stay in touch with UITP newsroom from now on.

UITP encourages all its members to jump on board this great initiative!

Some figures on safety of women in public transport around the world

MORE THAN 80% OF WOMEN EXPERIENCED HARASSMENT IN PUBLIC

• Quoted in Sound and Safe (FIA 2016),34 (referring to the Hollaback survey, conducted among 16,600 respondents from 42 cities in 22 countries)

90% OF SEXUAL HARASSMENT ON PUBLIC TRANSPORT GOES UNREPORTED

• This is a statistic for London: 90% of unwanted sexual behaviour on London transport goes unreported (TfL 2017)

Similar trends are also observed in other cities:

• In New York it is estimated that 96% of sexual harassment and 86% of sexual assault on the subway goes unreported in 2007 (Jeng Chung 2007)
• Over 80%of sexual crimes against Australian women go unreported (Kalms and Korsmeyer 2017) (general statistics, not only in public transpot)
• In Egypt, of 1010 women surveyed, only 2.4% of the 83% of Egyptian women who had experienced sexual harassment in a public place reported it (Quoted in FIA 2016)

80% OF WOMEN ARE AFRAID OF BEING HARASSED IN PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION.

• Quoted in the World Bank article “Transport is not gender-neutral” (January 2018)

MOST WOMEN FEEL SAFER ON THE STREET THAN ON PUBLIC TRANSPORT (in Egypt)

“(82.6%) of the total female respondents announced that they neither felt secure nor safe in the street.  The rate of the feeling of insecurity and lack of safety in public transportation increased   to (86.5%) more than the street.” (survey conducted in Greater Cairo, UN Women 2013)