Women, mobility, and public space in Guwahati

While it is the largest city in India’s northeastern state of Assam, Guwahati’s sprawling development pattern and limited transportation options seriously constrain women’s mobility.

In this 2016 case study, researchers with CEPT University’s Centre for Urban Equity and the North East Network explore women’s transportation needs and options, the daily harassment they face, and the infrastructure gaps that restrict their mobility. They highlight how the physical risks women confront, due to aggressive male behaviour and the lack of safe transportation, exclude them from public space and all the opportunities it offers.

Read the working paper “Safe Mobility for Women: Case of Guwahati" (PDF, 3,13 MB).

Explore the project, Poverty, inequality and violence in urban India: Towards more inclusive urban planning.

Learn more about IDRC’s research support to make cities safer through the Safe and Inclusive Cities partnership with the UK’s Department for International Development.