Public transport, sexual harassment, and social norms : some evidence from South Africa

Abstract

Research has highlighted various challenges facing public transport users, particularly women. We conduct a survey of 1000 male and female public transport users in South Africa to better understand the commuting experiences of these users, including vulnerability to sexual harassment and violence. We find that women are selective in their transport modes based on safety and accessibility in relation to men. We also observe that while women witness more incidents of sexual harassment, they are also less likely to report the incidents due to fear of victimisation and the belief that no change will come about. In addition, we note that both women and men overestimate other commuters’ tolerance for sexual harassment and unwanted sexual advances in the public transport setting. This finding could be leveraged in policies highlighting that most public transport users find such behaviours unacceptable. Existing research on the positive effects on behaviour of correcting erroneous normative beliefs suggests that communicating accurate norms might reduce engagement in behaviour (such as sexual harassment) that deviates from the accepted norms.

HIGHLIGHTS • Women avoid trains/buses due to safety and accessibility concerns. • Men and women overestimate others’ tolerance of harassment on transport. • Women feel significantly less safe than men across all commute stages. • Erroneous social-norm beliefs shape behaviours linked to harassment. • Communicating accurate norms may reduce harassment on public transport.