Women on wheels: Motorbike rally planned for today
The initiative has been conceived by the CM’s SMU
The initiative has been conceived by the CM’s SMU. PHOTO: SHAFIQ MALIK
LAHORE:
The Chief Minister’s Special Monitoring Unit (CM’s SMU) will organise a briefing on its Women-on-Wheels (WoW) initiative on Sunday.
A motorcycle rally on Kashmir Road will follow the briefing that will be held at Alhamra on The Mall. Women participating in the rally will be presented certificates at the briefing. They will later make their way towards Kashmir Road to participate in the rally from Alhamra’s stock exchange gate, drive to Kashmir Road and return back to the starting point.
60 women are expected to participate in the rally. The initiative has been taken to break stereotypes, reclaim public space for women and put an end to gender-based street harassment.
WoW has been conceived by the CM’s SMU to empower women by imparting them with the requisite skill-set needed to increase their mobility and secure their independence through the provision of subsidised scooters and free driving lessons.
The initiative is being run in collaboration with UN Women and traffic police.
“WoW aims to eradicate street harassment by raising public awareness,” CM’s SMU Senior Member Salman Sufi said.
He said it was high time that Pakistani women were emancipated in the real sense and afforded mobility to enable them to contribute towards national development,” Sufi said.
Due to overwhelming public response, the initiative will be replicated across other districts in the province.
WoW was officially launched with a public briefing on November 19, 2014. Around 150 women signed up for training in the city since then. Of these, 70 had taken daily training. 60 of them had passed a driving test organised on December 2.
A motorcycle manufacturing concern has presented five motorcycles to the CTO Office to facilitate training of women. The company will also provide an additional 20 motorbikes on the day of the rally for the convenience of those riders who were not able to secure a motorcycle for the rally.
Published in The Express Tribune, January 10th, 2016.
The Chief Minister’s Special Monitoring Unit (CM’s SMU) will organise a briefing on its Women-on-Wheels (WoW) initiative on Sunday.
A motorcycle rally on Kashmir Road will follow the briefing that will be held at Alhamra on The Mall. Women participating in the rally will be presented certificates at the briefing. They will later make their way towards Kashmir Road to participate in the rally from Alhamra’s stock exchange gate, drive to Kashmir Road and return back to the starting point.
60 women are expected to participate in the rally. The initiative has been taken to break stereotypes, reclaim public space for women and put an end to gender-based street harassment.
WoW has been conceived by the CM’s SMU to empower women by imparting them with the requisite skill-set needed to increase their mobility and secure their independence through the provision of subsidised scooters and free driving lessons.
The initiative is being run in collaboration with UN Women and traffic police.
“WoW aims to eradicate street harassment by raising public awareness,” CM’s SMU Senior Member Salman Sufi said.
He said it was high time that Pakistani women were emancipated in the real sense and afforded mobility to enable them to contribute towards national development,” Sufi said.
Due to overwhelming public response, the initiative will be replicated across other districts in the province.
WoW was officially launched with a public briefing on November 19, 2014. Around 150 women signed up for training in the city since then. Of these, 70 had taken daily training. 60 of them had passed a driving test organised on December 2.
A motorcycle manufacturing concern has presented five motorcycles to the CTO Office to facilitate training of women. The company will also provide an additional 20 motorbikes on the day of the rally for the convenience of those riders who were not able to secure a motorcycle for the rally.
Published in The Express Tribune, January 10th, 2016.