Pink Taxi — a good short-term measure

We need to think why it was needed & whether it will address the problems that have made such projects a necessity

The recent introduction of the women-only rickshaw service in Lahore is a welcome development as it will enable more women to step into the workspace. The rickshaw service, called Pink Taxi, has women drivers and will cater only to women passengers in order to protect women from the harassment that they are often subjected to while using public transport, and in this respect this makes for an excellent initiative. With discrimination being faced by women in many professions and exclusion from various job opportunities, such initiatives also ensure employment opportunities in an often difficult environment.

While the project is an appreciable effort, we do need to think why it was needed in the first place and whether it will be able to address the problems that have made such projects a necessity. When women are given a segregated space, it does not necessarily help curb the serious problem of sexual harassment that they face in the public space. As opposed to making efforts to reduce harassment and discrimination against women in public spaces, creating such gendered spaces will not provide long-term solutions to these very pervasive problems. In an ideal world, we wouldn’t need to start a women-only rickshaw service with a designated colour. What we need to do is to take steps that one day will lead to a world where there will not be a need to create segregated space for women and they could be drivers of any bus, taxi or rickshaw, just like male members of society. With other countries in the world cutting out on these gender barriers and even eliminating them from language, we must learn to look ahead and reduce the need for segregation. We often explain such needs away by providing culture differences as justification. We should just look to our neighbour India, which has a similar cultural make-up, but more women are seen using public transport or riding motorbikes or bicycles. Gendered spaces can provide easy solutions, but they are temporary at best. It would truly be a time to celebrate if we had women drivers of metro buses and not just pink rickshaws.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 6^th,  2015.

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