Going places: A two-wheel solution
The initiative by Punjab Lok Sujag aims to promote women’s mobility through driving bicycles and motorcycles.
File photo. PHOTO: AFP
LAHORE:
Showing up late for football practice had become a routine for Asma Afzal, 23, who was gunning for participation in the national games. One afternoon, she decided that she had had enough and drove her brother’s motorcycle from Taj Bagh to Model Town Park for her practice.
That was three years ago. Today, Afzal – a national level football player and sports instructor at a private school in Harbanspura – owns her own motorcycle which she uses to commute every day. “Why should commuting be restrictive for women trying to achieve something or perform basic chores?” asks Afzal.
Afzal is now volunteering for an initiative which aims to promote women’s mobility through driving bicycles and motorcycles.
The Other Wheel – an initiative by the Punjab Lok Sujag, research and advocacy organisation focusing on culture and local language – has been running in the province for almost two months now. Under the initiative, girls and women in educational institutes are told about commuting using two-wheelers.
PLS Gender Programme Manager Anum Ather says commuting on two-wheelers is one of the things that set men and women apart in the society. “Sure you have public transport, but there are a host of problems with it,” she says.
Ather says most women are dependent on men for commuting. “During the course of the project, we realised that there is an absurd taboo associated with women’s mobility. Apparently, it’s a big deal.”
The project began with talking to women about riding bicycles. Motorcycles were added later. The PLS team wrote letters to more than 40 public and private universities to encourage the use of bicycles for commuting on campus. Ather says none of the universities in Lahore responded. Of the 45 letters they had sent, only three got positive feedback, one of them from the University of Agriculture Faisalabad.
In May, a two-day training session was held at the university under the initiative in which students were sensitised about the idea of women driving two-wheelers. As many as 150 girls signed up for training in riding bicycles and motorcycles. “The idea was to first acquaint students, both girls and boys, with the idea of women’s mobility on two-wheelers,” says Ather.
Citing instances of resistance to the idea, Ather says there have been reservations at various institutions that this would “spoil the girls”. “I was astonished when a professor at one of the universities shot said if women were allowed to drive motorcycles, they would go astray,” says Ather.
To counter the taboo associated with the idea, the PLS has been organising sessions in which women who drive motorcycles share their experiences with girl students. Around 20 women have already volunteered to share their experiences at these sessions. The team at The Other Wheel is also working with government departments including the Women Development Department and the Department of Youth Affairs, to generate awareness and work on providing subsidies for two-wheelers, especially motorcycles and scooties.
Ather says the plan is to take awareness and training sessions to more educational institutions including the University of Gujrat - which has shown keen interest in the initiative.
The awareness session in Faisalabad motivated Asma Afzal to speak out on the subject. Afzal says there is a need for more women to hit the streets on their two-wheelers and challenge the taboo. “I give these girls my example. When I drove a motorcycle for the first time, I was hesitant and slightly nervous. Today, I know how to find my way across the city on my motorcycle. Above all, I can always reach my destination on time.”
Published in The Express Tribune, June 8th, 2014.
Showing up late for football practice had become a routine for Asma Afzal, 23, who was gunning for participation in the national games. One afternoon, she decided that she had had enough and drove her brother’s motorcycle from Taj Bagh to Model Town Park for her practice.
That was three years ago. Today, Afzal – a national level football player and sports instructor at a private school in Harbanspura – owns her own motorcycle which she uses to commute every day. “Why should commuting be restrictive for women trying to achieve something or perform basic chores?” asks Afzal.
Afzal is now volunteering for an initiative which aims to promote women’s mobility through driving bicycles and motorcycles.
The Other Wheel – an initiative by the Punjab Lok Sujag, research and advocacy organisation focusing on culture and local language – has been running in the province for almost two months now. Under the initiative, girls and women in educational institutes are told about commuting using two-wheelers.
PLS Gender Programme Manager Anum Ather says commuting on two-wheelers is one of the things that set men and women apart in the society. “Sure you have public transport, but there are a host of problems with it,” she says.
Ather says most women are dependent on men for commuting. “During the course of the project, we realised that there is an absurd taboo associated with women’s mobility. Apparently, it’s a big deal.”
The project began with talking to women about riding bicycles. Motorcycles were added later. The PLS team wrote letters to more than 40 public and private universities to encourage the use of bicycles for commuting on campus. Ather says none of the universities in Lahore responded. Of the 45 letters they had sent, only three got positive feedback, one of them from the University of Agriculture Faisalabad.
In May, a two-day training session was held at the university under the initiative in which students were sensitised about the idea of women driving two-wheelers. As many as 150 girls signed up for training in riding bicycles and motorcycles. “The idea was to first acquaint students, both girls and boys, with the idea of women’s mobility on two-wheelers,” says Ather.
Citing instances of resistance to the idea, Ather says there have been reservations at various institutions that this would “spoil the girls”. “I was astonished when a professor at one of the universities shot said if women were allowed to drive motorcycles, they would go astray,” says Ather.
To counter the taboo associated with the idea, the PLS has been organising sessions in which women who drive motorcycles share their experiences with girl students. Around 20 women have already volunteered to share their experiences at these sessions. The team at The Other Wheel is also working with government departments including the Women Development Department and the Department of Youth Affairs, to generate awareness and work on providing subsidies for two-wheelers, especially motorcycles and scooties.
Ather says the plan is to take awareness and training sessions to more educational institutions including the University of Gujrat - which has shown keen interest in the initiative.
The awareness session in Faisalabad motivated Asma Afzal to speak out on the subject. Afzal says there is a need for more women to hit the streets on their two-wheelers and challenge the taboo. “I give these girls my example. When I drove a motorcycle for the first time, I was hesitant and slightly nervous. Today, I know how to find my way across the city on my motorcycle. Above all, I can always reach my destination on time.”
Published in The Express Tribune, June 8th, 2014.