Assessment of Women's Safety in Ride-sharing Services of Dhaka City

Abstract

Women's safety in transportation facilities has always been a significant concern worldwide. Sexual harassment has gotten a lot of attention as a social and legal issue over the previous two decades. According to Action Aid Bangladesh, 84 percent of all female commuters are subject to verbal and physical harassment in Bangladesh. It's important to note that the official statistics do not reflect that much because many intimidations and violence against women go unreported. As ride-sharing services become more prevalent in Bangladesh, ensuring women's safety is increasingly necessary. Not many studies have focused on the safety and security of women availing ride-sharing services, particularly in developing countries. Moreover, very few studies have explored the relationship between women's socio-economic, demographic, and travel characteristics with experiencing abuse and harassment. Moreover, the past studies rarely explored situations where verbal abuse and harassment occurred to women using ride-sharing services. The study's objective is to examine the effect of demographic, socio-economic, and travel characteristics on safety and security issues and in which situations women commuters are experiencing abuse and harassment in ride-sharing services. To determine how and which cohort of women in ride-sharing services are subjected to harassment, a questionnaire survey form will be developed for 150 participants. The respondents will be selected randomly from different socio- economic and demographic backgrounds to capture the real safety scenario of women using ride- sharing services. Based on interviews and literature review, three potential forms of harassment were found, i.e., verbal, physical, and gestural. The count data model will establish a relationship between dependent variables, i.e., verbal, physical, and gestural harassment experienced by a commuter, and independent variables (i.e., respondents' socio-economic, demographic, travel characteristics, and the surrounding environment). Possible results will reveal in which socio-economic and demographic background women are more vulnerable from a safety perspective while commuting in ride-sharing services and in which situations are victimized more. This study will reveal that the harassment and abuse faced by women significantly vary among the respondents based on their socio-economic, demographic,travel characteristics, and surrounding road environment, which may also be crucial determinants of being harassed. Specific findings of this study would be beneficial to the policymakers and authorities of the ride-sharing companies for taking necessary measures to improve the existing safety and security provided to the passengers. Bangladesh Road Transport Authority (BRTA) can also use the findings of this study to formulate policies for ride-sharing service providers to improve woman's safety and security for these app-based services.