Speaker
Description
There is a widespread acceptance and shift towards sustainable, active and smart mobility solutions in the United Kingdom. However, it cannot be assumed that sustainable solutions are always socially inclusive which often causes social exclusion of minority groups and communities. Moreover, in many migrant families, essentialist gendered views about the role of women and men still prevail, which propagate reproductive/caretaking and earning responsibilities respectively. This paper is based on the evaluation of mental maps of migrant women developed from using public transport in Coventry, the birthplace of the British automotive industry. The research aims to identify the physical and socio-cultural impediments that impact women’s experiences of public transport and is grounded in the intersectional feminist discourse to offer a critical understanding of their lived experiences. The research thus attempts to understand how the discourses on mobility and gender can restrict migrant women’s use of public spaces by mapping and looking at their gendered, aged and sexualized geographies of fear. Two key findings emerged from the study; firstly, the asymmetrical power relations between genders pose unique challenges for women, e.g. fear and estrangement on transport due to the social norms, secondly, there is an overwhelming focus on British families when it comes to spatial accessibility to services/activities which results in unwilling dependence of migrant women on their male counterparts. It concludes that urban policies can play a key role in improving migrants' inclusion by bringing in racialised gendered migrant perspectives in the study of mobility justice, environmental awareness and equal citizenship.
| GDPR complianced | Yes |
|---|---|
| I am willing and able to travel to Norway unless Covid-19 restrictions prevent me from traveling to Stavanger. | YES |
