Dialogues for gender-inclusive mobility in cape town

Abstract

In both developed and developing countries, the mobility and freedom of movement of women is significantly affected by the design and layout of the public spaces they utilise and travel through. It is within these spaces that a large amount of, often unreported and unaddressed, sexual harassment occurs. The engineers responsible for developing these public spaces are often unable to adequately include a gender perspective in their designs. As a result, the goal of the "Tell Me How You See It" tool is to provide a workbook and checklist to developers and decision-makers to include gender perspectives in the design of mobility-based infrastructure. A social organisation, called Safetipin, works tirelessly to make public areas safer and more welcoming for women by collaborating with a variety of urban stakeholders, including governments (Safetipin, 2023). A customised auditing tool for mobile phone applications, built on the Safetipin platform, allowed for the collection of data across distinct international survey locations (London, Karachi and Cape Town) using a standardised survey method and questionnaire. This paper summarises the findings of the data collected using this 'Tell Me How You See It' tool for the City of Cape Town and translates the findings into actions for addressing women’s mobility needs.