Transport, Energy and Climate Economics (TrEnCE) - Next session

Speaker : Sheheryar Banuri - Associate Professor at the University of East Anglia, UK

Paper : Digital bodyguards: Experimental evidence on the role of personal safety on mobility and empowerment

Abstract : This research paper examines the impact of the Women Safety App (WSA) on female mobility in urban Lahore, Pakistan. Through a randomized field experiment targeting lower middle-income households, we evaluate the effectiveness of the WSA in reshaping gender safety perceptions and increasing female presence in public spaces. The intervention includes comprehensive training and awareness sessions, followed by the download and registration of the app on participants' smartphones. Data collected from 319 working-age women reveal significant improvements in mobility patterns and safety perceptions postintervention. Our preliminary findings indicate the intervention significantly impacts extensive margin, increasing the time spent travelling. Further it improves their travel agency, and the number of unaccompanied trips increases by 9 percentage points while number of walking trips increases by 14 percentage points. These findings underscore the potential of technology-driven interventions to address gender-based constraints and promote inclusive urban environments. Mechanisms for improving mobility and empowerment are discussed.

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