Safer Journeys: How Local Action is Driving Regional Change

[ PHOTO: Makueni Technical Working Group ]

Every day across Africa, millions of people board a matatu, a bus, or a shared taxi to get to work, school, or hospital. For many women and girls, that journey carries an invisible weight – the knowledge that public transport is not always safe for them.

Sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) in transport spaces is not a marginal issue. It is a structural barrier that limits women’s economic participation, restricts their freedom of movement, and in many cases, silences them entirely. Flone Initiative has spent years working to change that – through evidence, policy, and people.

01 THE CHALLENGE

A System That Fails the People Who Need It Most

Public transport is the backbone of daily life across the continent connecting communities to markets, hospitals, schools, and opportunity. Yet despite this critical role, transport systems have consistently failed to centre the safety and needs of vulnerable groups, particularly women.

[ PHOTO: Commuters Transport Spaces ]

Flone’s own Baseline Study on Violence Against Women and Girls in Public Road Transport and Connected Spaces in Nairobi (2018) laid bare the scale of the problem: the majority of women and girls interviewed had experienced at least one form of sexual harassment in public transport or in the spaces connected to it – yet very few had ever reported it to authorities.

The reasons are systemic. There are few accessible reporting mechanisms. There is little trust that reports will be taken seriously. And there is no shared standard of accountability across operators and SACCOs. SGBV does not only push women off transport – it pushes them out of the transport economy entirely.

It is also important to note that men experience SGBV too, though it is frequently underreported due to social expectations and stigma. Building safer transport means creating systems where all survivors feel empowered to report – and where bystanders feel equipped to challenge harmful behaviour when they see it.

02 EVIDENCE-LED APPROACH

Using Research to Power Action

Advocacy without evidence can only go so far. Flone has built a body of research that gives policymakers and county governments the data they need to act with confidence and urgency.

• Baseline Study on Violence Against Women and Girls in Public Road Transport and Connected Spaces in Nairobi (2018) – the foundational dataset that exposed the prevalence of SGBV incidents and the near-total absence of reporting.
• Situational Analysis Report on SGBV Reporting Systems and Referral Pathways in Nairobi County (2025) – mapping the current landscape of response systems and identifying critical gaps to close.

These studies do not sit in libraries. They are the instruments that open doors in county offices and SACCO boardrooms.

03 GOVERNANCE & POLICY

Building Safer Transport Through Policy and Practice

[ PHOTO: Makueni County Government Meeting ]

Policies without enforcement are aspirations. Enforcement without policies is arbitrary. Flone has worked at both ends helping counties create the frameworks that give transport operators and passengers a clear, shared understanding of what is acceptable behaviour and what is not.

• Supported the development of the Machakos County Transport Sexual Harassment and Gender Based Violence Policy (2022)
• Developed the Nakuru County Public Transport Code of Conduct (2024)
• Provided technical support in the development of the Makueni County public transport policy (draft)
• Developed a policy brief on Tackling SGBV in Makueni County Public Transport (draft)

04 CAPACITY BUILDING

Training the People Who Run Our Transport Systems

Policies set the standard. People enforce it. Flone’s training programmes work directly with public transport operators — the matatu drivers, conductors, and SACCO officials — to shift mindsets and build the skills needed to prevent and respond to SGBV incidents.

Beyond individual training sessions, Flone established a Technical Working Group on Inclusive Mobility — a platform that keeps inclusivity at the heart of county planning and decision-making long after any single workshop ends. For the 59 women in transport trained across Nairobi and Nakuru, the results have been tangible: increased confidence, stronger awareness of their rights, and the capacity to respond when incidents occur.

05 ADVOCACY & AWARENESS

Changing Minds at Scale

Structural change requires public momentum. Flone has been instrumental in amplifying the voices of women demanding safety and respect in public spaces – from national campaigns to grassroots awareness tools distributed directly in transport hubs.

• Played a key role in the national ‘My Dress My Choice’ movement, helping amplify calls for safety and dignity for women in public spaces.
• Distributed SGBV Incident Occurrence Books to 6 SACCOs in Nairobi.
• Developed a SGBV referral pathway for survivors.
• Distributed over 5,000 stickers across Nairobi, Makueni, and Nakuru.

[ PHOTO: Makueni County Community Engagement ]

I was rudely shocked and awoken from my sleep when I felt a hand trying to make its way across my thigh. Seated right across the bus pathway was a man of cloth, donning a collar. It was late at night. I pushed the hand away and put on my torch straight to his face.

This account, shared during a recent virtual dissemination of Flone’s policy brief on tackling SGBV in Makueni public transport, is not extraordinary. It is ordinary — and that is exactly the problem. Lived experiences like this one are what give policy work its urgency and its purpose.

This Is Everyone’s Fight

SGBV-free public transport cannot be achieved by one organisation alone.

It requires a collective commitment – from individuals, institutions, and industry.

• The general public must challenge harmful practices and demand accountability from operators and county authorities.
• Civil society organisations must keep advocacy and awareness campaigns active and loud.
• Public transport SACCOs must adopt codes of conduct and build real accountability mechanisms into their operations.

From Kenya to Zambia, the movement to end SGBV in public transport is gaining momentum. Safe and inclusive mobility is not a luxury it is a condition for equal participation in the development agenda. Flone Initiative will keep building the evidence, strengthening the systems, and forging the collaborations needed to make public transport work for everyone.