Laiba Rashid is a 22-year-old Pakistani student in a special training program in the city of Lahore. The program, called Women on Wheels (WOW), teaches women how to operate two-wheelers, or motorcycles. Rashid hopes her life will change after she learns how to ride a motorcycle.
Although the program is 7 years old, it is still rare to see women ride motorcycles. In the Islamic nation, it is more common to see women driving cars or riding in the back of two-wheelers operated by a male relative. The WOW program is offered free by the Lahore traffic police.
“I hope this will change my life because I am dependent on my brother to pick me up and drop me to college,” Rashid said on her first day at WOW.
She said she wants to buy a motorcycle to go to college, adding that, before, there were no women drivers in her family. “Now everybody is convinced that women should be independent in their movement to schools, jobs and markets,” she said.
Bushra Iqbal Hussain is a social activist and director of Safe Childhood. Hussain said women driving two-wheelers has been a cultural and religious taboo. But, she said, more women are now changing the culture like they did in the 1980s with regular cars to reduce their dependence on men to move around.
The WOW program has been in operation since 2017. But it has become increasingly popular in recent months as car prices have greatly increased and motorcycles offer a less costly choice.
The cheapest four-wheel vehicle in Pakistan costs about $8,265 compared to about $1,345 for a Chinese-made two-wheeler. The average yearly income per person in Pakistan is $1,696.
Sohail Mudassar is a traffic official in Lahore. He said the WOW program has trained at least 6,600 women, and Rashid’s group was the 86th since it started. Female trainer Humaira Rafaqat added, “Young women are quick learners because they are enthusiastic and take risks.”
Breaking glass ceiling
One of them, Ghania Raza, is a 23-year-old who is working toward a doctorate in criminology. She said learning to ride a two-wheeler gave her a deep sense of achievement and empowerment: “It was like breaking a glass ceiling,” she said.
Shumaila Shafiq is a 36-year-old mother of three and a part-time clothing designer. She said she has been riding her husband’s motorcycle to the market and other places after training in the program.
Shafiq has also designed a short-length abaya for Muslim women to wear while operating a motorcycle. She said the long abaya is dangerous because it may get caught in the wheels of the motorcycle.
I’m Jill Robbins.
Mubasher Bukhari reported this story for Reuters. Jill Robbins adapted it for Learning English.
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Words in This Story
convinced – adj. completely certain or sure about something; persuaded
taboo – n. not acceptable to talk about or do
cheap – adj. not costing a lot of money
enthusiastic – adj. feeling or showing strong excitement about something : filled with or marked by enthusiasm
glass ceiling – n. an upper limit to achievement by a group of people
abaya – n. a simple, loose, robe-like dress worn by conservative Muslim women