Public Transport from a Gender Perspective: Insecurity and Victimization in Latin America. The Case of Lima and Asuncion Metropolitan Areas

Lack of security is the main concern of citizens in the region. Crime and violence distort the allocation of resources by governments and businesses and alter citizens’ routines. This is particularly the case for women. This paper measures women’s perceptions of insecurity and victimization on public transport in the Asuncion (Paraguay) and Lima (Peru) metropolitan areas and analyzes their influence on mobility patterns. An innovative methodology, which considers both users and nonusers of public transport in a representative sample from those metropolitan areas, is used. The paper concludes that both women’s perceptions and experiences of insecurity when using public transport, especially in the Lima metropolitan area, are among the worst in Latin America. This is associated with lower public transportation use; therefore, it limits women’s transport options, directly affecting their mobility and causing economic and time loss. About 30% of women in Lima and 6% of women in Asuncion area reported being victims of crime on public transport systems, while 79% in Lima and 24% in Asuncion have witnessed episodes of violence against women on public transport in the past 12 months. More than one third of women have suffered sexual offenses on public transport at some point in their lives. More than 80% of women do not report these crimes. Policies to enhance women’s security on public transport are analyzed as they are key to promoting gender equality.