Urban environments are not gender-neutral. Architects and urban designers are increasingly seeking to understand how gender-sensitive design can combat the spatial inequities faced by those who identify as women and girls of all demographics, races and socio-economic groups. Public transport spaces, for instance, incubate many systemic issues. [...]
To this day, women are more likely than men to have extra domestic and care-giving responsibilities, but fewer transport options. This affects their travel patterns. Women are more likely to move between multiple destinations throughout their daily commute.
Gendered inequalities in transport use open a myriad of additional concerns. For women, this includes a disproportionate fear of victimisation in public transport spaces. [...]
The fear of sexual harassment in urban areas is so widespread that a 2016 national survey found Australian girls and women regularly modify their behaviour to reduce their risk of harassment. More are staying at home rather than going out at night. [...]
Importantly, segregation marginalises individuals from the LGBTQI community and those who have fluid or non-conforming gender identities. The present victim-blaming approach to safety on public transport does not only affect cis-gendered women. For example, the New South Wales Police website advises LGBTQI people to “wear something over your outfit, such as a jacket or overcoat, or consider changing at your destination” if “frocking up for the night (for example, in ‘drag’ or something revealing)”.
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