Redesigning Kenya’s Public Transport With Women In Mind

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Across the world, women are sexually harassed at alarming rates on public transport. In Kenya, this problem affects her 88% of women. What if we could redesign public transport to radically improve safety for women and other vulnerable groups?This is social entrepreneur Naomi Mwaura, an organization she founded in 2013. The FLONE initiative is answering this question. Ashoka’s Josephine Nuzellem caught up with Naomi. They spoke about her deep love and appreciation for ‘matatus’, Kenyan minibuses, and how they are transforming the entire industry from the ground up by putting more women in charge.

Josephine Nuzerem: For those unfamiliar with the Kenyan transport system, could you explain how Matatus operates?

Maura Naomi: There is no government-run transport in Kenya. Any private citizen with the proper license can buy and operate a bus, called a matatu. Everyone who drives the vehicle, such as the driver or conductor, is paid informally. There are no contracts or minimum wages. This type of employment is very important in Kenya due to high youth unemployment. Public transport is the only place a young person can go without dressing up and speaking proper English and get $5 home.

Nzerem: When did you decide that public transport in Kenya needed to be reformed?

Mwaura: Growing up, my family ran a matatu in my hometown. It was very colorful and very popular. Appreciated the ability of public transport to create jobs for the entire extended family while providing freedom of movement.

However, when I was in college, I had a terrifying experience of being assaulted on a bus, which made me think about the current state of public transportation in Kenya. Two years later, when I saw a viral video of a woman being physically assaulted on a bus, I was shocked to take action. A college friend and I decided to organize a protest to draw attention to women’s safety issues. Only four of us showed up, and more media gathered than protesters. Thankfully, a lawyer friend of mine had a great idea to turn it into a press conference. This is how the Flone Initiative Trust was born.

Nzerem: You have come a long way since then. What was the first gap you started filling?

Mwaura: One of the first struggles was the lack of data. We have lived our experiences as women using public transport and were unable to find any data to support our negative experiences. is generated.we started Incident tracking, I was able to make concrete proposals to the matatsu industry. For example, we found that bus routes could be made safer for women simply by having predictable routes and schedules. In Kenya and East Africa, debates about gender and mobility are ongoing. There is also renewed interest in looking at the travel needs of other vulnerable groups, such as people with disabilities and the elderly. Today, we are working with her over 3,000 matatu operators, over 100 transport stakeholders (including government agencies and trade unions), and over 1,000 women professionals to implement interventions.

Nzerem: How did Fone bring this conversation into the mainstream?

Mwaura: A turning point in our work was when we became co-organizers of the #MyDressMyChoice protest in response to three viral videos of women being assaulted and stripped in bus terminals. People came to me and said, ‘Now I see what you’re talking about. It led to the revision of the law to punish criminals.

Nzerem: How do you involve women? What role do they play in shaping the transportation industry?

Mwaura: Depending on who you ask, it’s estimated that women professionals make up only about 7% of the public transport workforce. Our Women in Transport program works to attract, retain and promote women professionals in our industry. We offer professional development training such as driving courses and financial management courses. This will give women drivers the economic power they need to rise to higher positions in the industry. Therefore, value should be invested in women throughout her chain. Let more people become makers, assemblers, designers and engineers.

Nzerem: What will change if more women enter the transportation industry? Anything particularly surprising?

Mwaura: Interestingly, other vulnerable groups feel more comfortable when women are in charge. Our research shows that people with disabilities prefer vehicles driven by female conductors. They say women tend to take better care of accessibility aids such as canes and wheelchairs. women are also joining the industry after seeing our members talking about their careers on national television.

Nzerem: What are you striving to achieve today?

Mwaura: We are building an inclusive mobility movement in Kenya that breaks down silos and supports three key stakeholders: practitioners, commuters and government officials. No single person can solve the whole problem. I need everyone. For example, last year we worked with Machakos County officials. They independently conducted a safety audit of the town’s transportation infrastructure and helped create a toolbox. By building government capacity in this way, we hope that public transportation will become regulated and operated by the government.

We are also committed to behavior change, as some of the issues we are dealing with in public transport are due to culture and socialization. must reach. Unfortunately this will take a little longer. This is achieved through public awareness campaigns, religious and cultural leaders’ voices, capacity building for industry, and especially informal transportation without standardized training.

Nzerem: What excites you about the future of transportation in Kenya?

Mwaura: I always think about the fact that until the 1990s in Kenya women could not open bank accounts without the approval of their husbands and family. It just seemed utterly ridiculous when someone told me that. So there was a time when future commuters could look back and say, ‘Hey, there was a time when public transport wasn’t the best way to get around for women. Isn’t that ridiculous? I see a future that is a great place to work for

Maura Naomi on Twitter.