The forgotten group : Kenyan women who are driving for a living : a case study

Abstract: Female drivers operating in the public transport sector are underrepresented in the literature on women’s mobility which largely addresses the fear of crime among female riders. Alternative modes of transport, as well as job opportunities, have nevertheless started to emerge as international and local ride-hailing firms mushroom across the globe in urban cities. The World Bank Group International Finance Corporation (IFC) found the participation of Uber female drivers in the sharing economy as promising for socio-economic development, but little attention is paid to women’s subjective well-being, including fear of victimization in their workspace. The purpose of this case study is, therefore, to shed light on the driving behaviour and perceived safety of female drivers operating in Nairobi’s ride-hailing sector which experienced rapid expansion since 2016. The study adopts a mixed-method design and a bottom-up approach of behavioural geography to answer the main research question: How are Driving Patterns of Female Ride-hailing Drivers in Nairobi Shaped by Spatial Reasoning and Perceived Safety? The findings ground on data from 137 completed questionnaires, seven semi-structured in-depth interviews and a focus group discussion collected during a period of eight weeks in the first quarter of 2020.