Wednesday, October 21, 2009

Mexican city launches pink, women-only taxis



Mexican city launches pink, women-only taxis

The city of Puebla, Mexico has launched a new business consisting of pink taxis driven by women in an effort to "prevent sexual harassment" that many women face when using taxis driven by men. That's great and all, but can I add that they also carry a supply of beauty products? Oh, geez.

This is a great conversation starter about how we define "prevention". Is it really providing Pepto pink cabs driven by women to avoid the harassment, or is it holding offenders accountable for their behaviors and changing how we socialize children in our society to value female identified folks? Feministing.com writer Jessica agrees:

The onus should be on men to stop harassing women, not on women to escape them.


Vianeth Rojas, of the Network for Sexual and Reproductive Rights in Puebla, seems to agree: "We are in the 21st century, and they are saying women have continued worrying about beauty and nothing more...They are absolutely not helping eradicate violence against women."
Share your thoughts with us in the comments. What do you think of these pink, women-driven cabs that supply beauty products? Are they making a difference in the effort to end violence against women?

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