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Women Demand Mobility
Israel`s Transportation Ministry announced in July that for the first time in Israel`s history, public transportation services will be offered to Arab settlements. "History in the Arab Israeli sector," read a press release issued by the Ministry. Within two months, new public transportation bus lines will begin operating in Arab villages in the North and Center of Israel. Public transportation is planned to be introduced into all Arab towns and villages.
This is an unprecedented success for the rural Arab women who fought for mobility in their localities over the course of six years, through the project "Women Demand Mobility" facilitated by Kayan - Feminist Organization. Unable to travel from place to place, they were cut off from the work-force and economic activity, from health and social services, from educational institutions, and from participation in their communities. Their lack of mobility was a reason for gender inequality and poverty.
"Friends, I want to go out of the house and attend an empowerment workshop. I want to contribute to the empowerment of other women and to the society, but it is difficult for me to come. If there is no man - brother, father or husband - to drive me, I have to go by foot for an hour!" said a woman in Kayan`s empowerment group in Mghar in 2003. This statement initiated the project, aiming to bring public transportation to all Arab towns and villages in Israel.
The project was innovative and visionary, so its beginnings were marked by trial and error. At first, the women of Mghar simply did by themselves what the state would not do for them: assessing local transportation needs and designing public transport accordingly: routes, bus-stops, timetables, everything. Only later, they realized that a reliable and sustainable service needs involvement from the state.
"Friends, I want to go out of the house and attend an empowerment workshop. I want to contribute to the empowerment of other women and to the society, but it is difficult for me to come. If there is no man - brother, father or husband - to drive me, I have to go by foot for an hour!" said a woman in Kayan`s empowerment group in Mghar in 2003. This statement initiated the project, aiming to bring public transportation to all Arab towns and villages in Israel.
The project was innovative and visionary, so its beginnings were marked by trial and error. At first, the women of Mghar simply did by themselves what the state would not do for them: assessing local transportation needs and designing public transport accordingly: routes, bus-stops, timetables, everything. Only later, they realized that a reliable and sustainable service needs involvement from the state.
This was the beginning of a major advocacy campaign directed towards the authorities, and carried by women`s pressure groups in numerous villages - Kayan`s "mobility groups." Five years later, the Ministry of Transport gave in to the women`s demands and even collaborated with them in assessing the transportation needs of local women and men. Especially, they helped the Ministry to reach dozens of local women who otherwise would have been excluded from the planning process.
