Gender and safety in public transportation : an explorative study in Lagos Metropolis, Nigeria

Given the importance of the topic, it is surprising that apart from studies from developed countries; hardly any literature explores the gender perspective of criminal activities in public transport in most developing countries. This study was conducted in Lagos Metropolis (South Western part of Nigeria). Questionnaire, field observations and informal interview formed major research instruments. Data for the study were obtained through primary and secondary sources. The study addressed and discussed the question of how women are affected by unsafe or insecure public transportation services. Safety in the context of the thesis goes beyond freedom from accidents and impact of emissions, but it entails injuries, harassment, rape, assaults experienced by women when using public transport. The study was rooted within four objectives that include: (i) to theoretically examine the concept of gender, safety and sustainable public transport, (ii) examine the travel environment of women in the study area; (iii) identify types of crime experienced by women in public transport, and (iv) analyze the need for integrating a gender sensitive transport policy in Lagos. The study was conducted in four Local Government Areas of Lagos Metropolis. The area was stratified into high, middle and low income density, based on the existing stratification status of the residents and population densities. Stratified random sampling and purposive sampling techniques were used to sample 95 female users of public transport _ respondents; 15 males were chosen as a control group. Data collected were analyzed using simple descriptive statistics such as, frequency distribution, cross tabulation, percentages and ratios. In addition, more scientific evaluations such as correlation, regression and factor analyses were done to test the study hypotheses and draw valuable inferences from the analysis. Findings show that more women than men are afraid of crime when using public transport and above 70% of women sampled were victims of crime with serious impact or high intensity, when compared to men. Physical harassment assaults, sexual harassment, raping, pick pocketing, kidnapping, robbery etc., were common crimes revealed in the study. It is disturbing to note that women compared with men are mostly affected by all types of crime ranging from pick-pocketing to rape or sexual harassments. Findings also show that public transport has "led to death of innocent ladies who are victims of rituals". One other implication is that high rate of crime in public transport is grossly affecting the level of patronage of the service, thus hindering interactions and leads to loss of valuable properties. Most criminal activities occur while waiting for buses, "okada" (commercial motorcycles) etc. This finding highlights inadequacy in the design, location and management of bus stops in the study areas. Criminal activities in public transport have continuously affected the travel pattern and livelihoods of women. From the study; current situation of crime and fear of crime in public transport is a pointer to the urgent need for solutions to curtail or minimize this "wicked" mobility problem facing most users, specifically women in the study area, and other cities in the country. Based on the empirical analysis some public transportation planning and management implications and policy recommendations for future directions were given. These include improving the performance of public transport service in Lagos and Nigerian cities as a whole as part of regional development policy; the effective design, location and management of bus stops; the establishment of Public Transport Police; partnering with private sector in design and maintenance of bus stops and the provision of other transport elements, integrating gender dimensions of the transportation planning and management should be accorded consideration in transport and nation development. Keywords: Gender, Crime, Sustainable transport, Livelihoods, and public transport