Driving the Change

In a conversation, one of the founding members of Women on Wheel (WoW) Bangladesh, Kazi Farhana elaborates on the purpose of the community, as well as her hopes for the future.

How did the community, Women on Wheel, come to be? What inspired you to create such a community?

Problems and necessities. I had started driving out of necessity during the pandemic. I had to go to the office physically, but there was no public transportation, ride-sharing options, taxis or personal drivers at that time. But we did have a family car, which was only driven by my brothers or paid drivers before the pandemic. My fear of losing my job made me overcome my previous fear of driving.

Even after I felt confident driving, there were newer problems that arose such as lack of technical know-how, social unacceptability, roadside sledging, and taunting from members of the public while I was driving. This community was inspired by the problems I was facing as I believed I was not the only one facing the aforementioned issues. I saw this as an opportunity to build a community which would help other women drivers. There are particular issues that only women drivers face on the roads, and we need a strong women driver community to address the issues and come up with solutions. We needed a name that would make us feel ‘WOW’ emotionally, and then we realised that Women on Wheel is WoW in short. Once we found the name of our community, we started our journey.

How does the Women on Wheel community help/aid female drivers from Bangladesh?

Women on Wheel is a platform connecting vehicles and women. It is a versatile group that provides a number of services such as driving lessons, knowledge sharing, for eg about which car to buy within a budget, emergency support, priority services, technical questions, drivers meetups, and encouraging more women in joining the group. Transportation is a nightmare for women in our country, and public transportation is not always safe for them. For women who have the means, driving their own vehicle is a safe and reliable mode of transportation. Women on Wheel is a support system for female drivers or potential women drivers. The philosophy behind our group is that strong women lift and encourage strong women.

Although changing an entire society’s attitude towards female drivers might take a while, some policy implementations might alleviate some of the problems in the short run. What are some of the things you would like to suggest?

At the policy level, we need affirmative action. This could include hiring female drivers for government office vehicles, which will in turn encourage the private sector to do the same. There should be 24/7 roadside and hotline emergency support for all drivers. Female driving instructors need to be appointed in BRTA training centres so that more women are comfortable learning the skill. Lower interest rates and loan benefits for car loans specifically for women will enable more women to buy a car. Policies were needed to benefit women in every sector, it is high time to establish policies to benefit women in the automobile industry.

How do you envision the evolution of Women on Wheel (WoW) five years down the line?

Women on Wheel is a social club with a vision of having a safer and more hassle-free driving experience for women. In order to reach our goal, we would like to have dedicated female automobile engineers, women-run automobile workshops, a driving training school, a women-driven ride-sharing system and at least ten thousand registered club members.  In five years, we would like to see renowned automobile brands have vehicles catered toward female customers. Ideally, we would be able to create 150 female drivers annually from the club within five years. We would also like to have district-level women driver support groups in Bangladesh and expansion in south Asian and developing countries where women face similar problems. Our group is called WoW Bangladesh, but wouldn’t it be great to have WoW India, WoW Nepal, and WoW Bhutan?