Remarkable women in
Senegal

Why Senegal?

Informal transport encompasses a great diversity of occupations. While men work in all these occupations, women work almost exclusively as on-board crew members. Women in the transport industry are more likely to be found in the more precarious jobs. They have extremely low pay, no contracts, lack of social security and experience persistent sexual harassment.

In Dakar, new modes of public transport like BRT have been introduced. Women workers have organised into unions and called for gender equality and the implementation of the 30% gender quota for BRT jobs. They have demanded that women are employed as drivers in these new operations and that conditions for informal workers are improved, especially for women. They have also demanded employment contracts, improved access to social security, expanded opportunities for vocational training and improved working spaces, including the provision of basic facilities such as toilets, drinking water and shelter from sun and rai. Through their unions, women workers have demanded a voice in negotiations about public transport reform. 

“As a bus fare collector, there is a ticket box reserved for me in the bus, where I sit for up to 14 to 18 hours”.

There are obstacles for women to gain access to the training, licensing and experience necessary to progress to better jobs. Women face widespread discrimination and harassment when attempting to improve their skills. 

“Why can’t we have what everybody else has?”.