She can: a tool to empower decision makers to address sexual harassment in public transport in sub-saharan Africa

Abstract

Sexual harassment in public transport is an undisputed social hazard associated with (in)formal public transit systems. Incidents occur all over the globe, in the developed world, as well as in developing world settings. Apart from suffering the abuse itself, passengers are negatively impacted when fear of becoming a victim starts to limit their free and unencumbered access to the opportunities (be it economic, education, healthcare, social or leisure) that transportation can connect them to. A Kenyan study in 2015 reports 54% of female respondents had experienced some form of gender-based violence while in public transport. The consequence of the related fear could encourage and exacerbate inequalities within societies affected. Various role-players within, and connected to, the transport system, can influence this state of affairs. Being a cross-disciplinary problem, and one falling outside the scope of traditional transport planning and management practice, a lack of knowledge on where to start addressing the problem prevails. To breach this gap, the SHE CAN tool was developed between 2019 and 2022. This paper describes the SHE CAN tool, its contents and structure and how it can be used by stakeholders to mitigate this negative impact of public transport and introduces the tool to the South African transport fraternity.