With an improvement in the element of gender inclusiveness of safety in public places, the concern for women in transportation services has increased in terms of safe and comfortable travel.
India’s largest low-cost airline, IndiGo, as well as the popular bus booking platform, RedBus, both launched flagship policies about women’s safety while travelling.
The campaign was rolled out on Women’s Day, as a tribute to women who are increasingly embracing road travel, with the objective of offering them a more hygienic and safe option when using toilets at rest stops during journeys.
Although meant to be good-intentioned policies, these initiatives have sparked debate on issues of gender-based discrimination, efficacy, and implications at large on society.
In this article, we will be discussing the new Indigo and RedBus policies that were initially released as betterment for female passengers, but slowly (could) turn into a nuisance if not checked thoroughly
IndiGo’s Gender Specific Seat Selection Feature
The leader in the airline business in India, IndiGo, took a very bold initiative in August this year when it stated that female passengers have the right to choose the gender of the person sitting next to them.
It began as a pilot project in May 2024, where, during the online check-in process, females are allowed to view the seat map, where seats occupied by female travellers are highlighted in pink.
This facility will further empower women, especially alone female travellers, to choose a seat beside another female travelling as a safe option and ease the pressure on their bodies while sitting in one position for long durations.
Already, the usage has picked up with a remarkable increase of 60-70% in August compared to July, going by the popularity of the facility among female passengers.
This decision can be held forth to the airlines’ commitment towards a more comfortable and secure travelling environment for the comfort of its females. The move is, in fact, in line with IndiGo’s self-proclaimed “girl power” philosophy, which focuses on female empowerment and safety.
The airline is covering one of the biggest concerns most female travellers face: unwanted attention or harassment during flights by giving women the choice of who to sit next to.
RedBus and Its Women Only Seat Policy
RedBus, a popular online bus ticketing portal in India, some time back introduced the women-only seating system. The women-only compartments were further considered to be exclusively booked by female passengers, mainly on overnight and long-distance journey routes.
The purpose of introducing this policy was to provide women with a safe and private travel experience since people, especially females, may often feel uncomfortable or worried while travelling with mixed genders.
The entry of women-only seats by RedBus will efficiently deal with most of the anxieties that women are confronted with when travelling alone or during nighttime.
In other words, by providing the opportunity for specific sections to be reserved for women, RedBus erects a default space where female travellers can be relatively safer and less targeted for harassment or such inappropriate conduct from male passengers.
Safety vs. Discrimination
While such policies by IndiGo and RedBus have, on the whole, been in good stead for women, such policies have also given rise to more gender-based debates.
It gets criticized as confirming the stereotypes and does not respect the choices of male travellers. It may connote that the female passenger requires protection and needs to be segregated for such protection from harassment, which might over-cover the issues.
Also Read: Why Tesla hasn’t entered the Indian Market yet?
On the other hand, supporters of these policies pointed out the practical reality females have to face in public transportation. Sexual harassment and discomfort are huge issues for women travelling alone or at night.
From that point of view, gender-based seat selection features and women-only sections have created a safer and more independent space for female passengers.
Rather than perceiving these initiatives as discriminatory, on the contrary, supporters argue that they are required moves in dealing with the real threats women face in shared spaces.
Symbolic or Substantive?
These gender-specific measures are still also contentious. As much as they offer emotional and psychological comfort to the female passengers, they may not necessarily end harassment or other inappropriate behaviour.
The freedom to sit near a woman, for instance, may discourage some incidences of harassment but does not guarantee that the same woman will not be harassed at another instance in the journey.
At the same time, critics argue that such measures can appear as tokenistic rather than meaningful measures to deal with the problem of ensuring a safe experience for female travellers.
Critics thus argue that there should be greater effort at the level of society itself, such as better observance of harassment laws, gender sensitivity training of staff, and general upgrading of the safety arrangements at the time of flying or bus rides.
Potential for Misuse
Another concern with policies like these is their abuse. One of the reasons people object to such policies is that the gender-based select seat features can be abused to effectively establish gender-separated seating, re-enforcing segregation.
Further, the use of such policies would become a weapon against female passenger as their sitting choice could be restricted. The initiative could take a dark turn where the companies would care about profit only.
This turn would limit females to choose their seats (to some extent might not allow them to book seats at all), creating another problem for woman travellers. Additionally, RedBus is known for not allowing females to a seat in an empty row for shorter journeys.
Alternative Approaches to Enhancing Women’s Safety
While the gender-specific policies introduced by IndiGo and RedBus are innovative, some critics argue that alternatives may be better to ensure there is a safe environment for women travellers.
For example, investment in better security measures such as enhanced surveillance, more on-board female staff, and improved lighting in buses or at airports may make a significant difference.
Also, training in gender sensitization of bus conductors’ drivers and other staff could address the broader issue of harassment on public transport.
Global Perspective
For instance, to cite another example, women-only train cars are newly instituted during rush hour to avoid groping and harassment among the said crowd of the population on trains. Such provides a safe space for women, diminishing the stress and anxiety that may be attributed to packed public transportation.
In Cairo, Egypt, women-only buses were implemented to provide women with a safer and more comfortable way of commuting, particularly during rush hours when one would expect public transportation to be full.
Also Read: Scroll and Influence: How Instagram Shapes Gen Z?
Some cities in Mexico have taken this initiative and established female-only taxi services. These services are mostly manned by female drivers which provide a safe environment, especially at night, saving the passengers from harassment or assault.
Cities in Australia proposed moving female-only carriages on trains to sustain cohabitation by reducing rape and harassment of women, especially among train coaches but this idea remains controversial.
Conclusion
Initiated by IndiGo and RedBus, these policies will make safety for females in public transport a step closer. However, this raises the issue of how society is going to deal with the broader issues in the greater picture.
This debate assumes a very sensitive balance between providing the right solution for women to be protected and not offending men in the process.
IRCTC too have been, infamously, using gender and age-based segregations whilst assigning seats for a long time now and there has been no discussion about it. If the largest online booking platform can function without creating chaos, RedBus and Indigo are yet to learn a lot from it.
Ultimately, IndiGo’s gender-based seat selection feature and RedBus’s women-only seating are good intentions in the right direction.
To make a lasting impact, however, policy innovation should be cross-cut by changes within cultures and systems to ensure that travellers, whether male or female, are in a position to have a harassment-free journey.
Authored by Harbani Goindi, a 3rd year B.Voc. Media and Communication student at Fergusson.
Thank you for taking the time to read this! Please share this article if you enjoyed it. Also, you can follow us on Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Pinterest to get more interesting articles.