World | Pakistan
Women wardens don't want to be traffic stoppers
The arrival of eight, motorbike-riding women traffic wardens smartly dressed in the grey-and-blue uniforms of the special force set up last year, has, quite literally, been turning heads in the city.
- By Kamila Hyat, Correspondent
- Published: 00:34 April 5, 2008
Lahore: The arrival of eight, motorbike-riding women traffic wardens smartly dressed in the grey-and-blue uniforms of the special force set up last year, has, quite literally, been turning heads in the city.
The women officers on their high-tech bikes, beacons flashing, are an unusual sight in a part of the world where the role of women in the public sphere has been traditionally limited and where women riding motorcycles, or even bicycles, is virtually unheard off.
"My teenage daughters were so excited about seeing the traffic policewomen that they have been insisting I buy them a motorcycle when they are a bit older," said 40-year-old Imran Qaiser trying hard to conceal a smile.
The women traffic wardens are part of a squad of 84 who have been given motorcycles so that they can patrol streets and track down errant drivers more effectively.
Officials in charge of the new police unit introduced in Lahore to regain control over an increasingly chaotic road situation say one of the main tasks of the women wardens will be to deal with the growing number of women drivers.
The women officers have been asked to assist such drivers and educate them on traffic rules. There is also optimism that the presence of women may help improve public behaviour towards the police and introduce greater courtesy on the roads.
The wardens themselves are full of zest for their new assignment. Speaking on television, one only had words for her "smooth and easy to handle" bike. The women have, like their male counterparts, undergone months of training - and a good number have taken up position at prominent intersections across the city.
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