The SHE CAN tool – developed as an HVT project in Nigeria, Malawi and Rwanda – has been successfully extended into six more African countries, amplifying the work to address sexual harassment and gender bias in the transport sector in sub-Saharan Africa.
The EMPOWER project began in 2020 and developed the  SHE CAN Tool – an online decision-making tool assisting cross sector organisations to develop an evidence-based approach to addressing sexual harassment and personal security within public transport. In the initial phases of the project, the researchers discovered that sexual harassment was prevalent in the three countries where the research was being carried out, but there was little evidence of its extent or how to address it.
67% of women had experienced sexual harassment in Blantyre, Malawi; and 90% of those who had experienced harassment in Lagos and Blantyre did not report it – with the majority not knowing who to report it to and assuming nothing would happen if it was reported.
The SHE CAN tool provides knowledge and also tailored interventions for a coordinated response by transport operators, local and regional authorities, ministries, non-government organisations, community groups, police and citizens themselves.
The latest extension of the project has embedded the SHE CAN tool into six more African countries using a train-the-trainer approach. Lead researchers SLR Consulting have worked with partners from the University of Cape Town, European Integrated Projects, Lagos Metropolitan Area Transport Authority (LAMATA) and Nana Girls and Women Empowerment to deliver an integrated programme of stakeholder mapping and engagement. It included training, workshops, data collection, pilots and roadmaps to accelerate uptake of the tool in sub-Saharan Africa and beyond. This extension project added new case studies to the tool, including those from the informal public transport sector, and has enhanced ways of promoting the tool by uploading new user videos online.
The project has produced and uploaded three videos to show how the SHE CAN Tool has been successfully deployed in the formal and informal public transport sectors in Nigeria. This has helped to communicate its rationale.
SHE CAN Tool training workshops have been delivered in 7 countries welcoming 162 participants who are now equipped with the knowledge to use the tool to tackle sexual harassment on public transport. Countries including Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, South Africa and Zambia have used the tool and its resources. Subsequent activities include passenger surveys and focus groups, improving management practices and reporting mechanisms, and delivering advocacy and awareness raising campaigns. Training programmes have been delivered to transport authorities and draft policy recommendations have been developed for the attention of transport ministries.
In Nigeria, LAMATA has launched a Gender Equality Plan which is increasing recruitment of female bus drivers, conductors and ground staff. It has also integrated the SHE CAN Tool resources into management systems and delivered SHE CAN Champions across the company to raise gender awareness at management levels. Nana Girls and Women Empowerment Initiative has deployed EMPOWER research findings to design and deliver an awareness-raising programme to 44,000 students across 20 secondary schools in the state of Kebbi. It has taught students how to avoid harassment while travelling to and from school when using informal transport.
The project proved the value of the ‘Train the Trainer’ approach to capacity building. A single virtual workshop first trained up 10 trainers on the SHE CAN Tool. With this knowledge and a supporting slide deck, these 10 trainers then held physical workshops a few weeks later with key local and national stakeholders to present how to use the tool and the rationale behind it. Within the space of six weeks, 150 people were empowered to deliver actions across ten countries in sub-Saharan Africa. The study found that this should be a recommended approach for the efficient deployment of resources in other development programmes.
You can read the full report of the extended project here.