Women-only bus in Guatemala City. – Danilo Valladares/IPS

‘We are all safer here; it’s great because this way there are no men groping you,’ Jaqueline Escobar, a sales executive, told IPS on a bus that is exclusively for women, a service against sexual harassment that is being tried out in the Guatemalan capital.

Guatemala City’s mass transit system, Transurbano, launched a pilot programme on Jun. 14 with dozens of buses identified with signs reading ‘For Women Only’ and pink ribbons, which run between the city centre and neighbourhoods to the north and south.

The buses, which for now run from 6:00 to 7:30 am and 5:30 to 7:00 pm, can also be ridden by boys under 12, who along with the drivers are the only males allowed on.

In a new piece by Danilo Valladares on Inter Press Service, women-only buses are taken up in Guatemala City.

Categories: Gender, Justice