Sadly, many girls and women in Islamabad, Pakistan, report feeling unsafe when waiting at bus stops and when riding the bus. Bus drivers were commonly cited culprits in a Daily Times article, with girls and women saying they used their mirrors to ogle women and blasted sexually vulgar music. Women and girls who must sit in the front seat also can be groped or otherwise touched indecently by the driver.
Because taxis are expensive but they do not want to be harassed either, some women and girls try to wait until the buses aren’t so crowded to ride them, but then that can make them late and otherwise inconvenience them.
The article says the government has considered women-only transportation, a cop-out and band-aid fix many other countries have opted to have in their big cities. The downside of course is they do nothing to check harassing men’s behavior and still leave women who wait at bus stops or who do not live along women-only bus routes vulnerable.
