Riding towards gender equality

Participants of Women on Wheels (WOW) riding their motorcycles during a rally launching the campaign in Lahore, Pakistan, on Sunday. A new wave of female drivers in Pakistan is pushing the boundaries set by men in a deeply conservative Muslim country
PHOTO: AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE

Participants of Women on Wheels (WOW) riding their motorcycles during a rally launching the campaign in Lahore, Pakistan, on Sunday. A new wave of female drivers in Pakistan is pushing the boundaries set by men in a deeply conservative Muslim country where the idea of women straddling motorcycles, clambering into the cabins of heavy trucks or operating rickshaws for money is still taboo. WOW was an awareness campaign launched by the government of Punjab province to highlight gender-based violence and street harassment. The campaign saw 150 women, who had completed a police-run motorbike-training programme, riding through the streets of Pakistan in a rally attended by diplomats and human-rights lawyers.

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A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Straits Times on January 12, 2016, with the headline Riding towards gender equality. Subscribe