[ti:Program Helps Pakistani Women Learn to Ride, Gain Independence]
[al:As It Is]
[ar:VOA]
[dt:2025-01-03]
[by:www.voase.cn]
[00:00.00]Laiba Rashid is a 22-year-old Pakistani student in a special training program in the city of Lahore.
[00:09.97]The program, called Women on Wheels (WOW), teaches women how to operate two-wheelers, or motorcycles.
[00:19.86]Rashid hopes her life will change after she learns how to ride a motorcycle.
[00:25.66]Although the program is 7 years old, it is still rare to see women ride motorcycles.
[00:32.49]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.
[00:43.63]The WOW program is offered free by the Lahore traffic police.
[00:48.43]"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.
[01:00.85]She said she wants to buy a motorcycle to go to college, adding that, before, there were no women drivers in her family. 
[01:09.74]"Now everybody is convinced that women should be independent in their movement to schools, jobs and markets," she said.
[01:18.97]Bushra Iqbal Hussain is a social activist and director of Safe Childhood. 
[01:25.66]Hussain said women driving two-wheelers has been a cultural and religious taboo. 
[01:32.56]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.
[01:44.44]The WOW program has been in operation since 2017. 
[01:49.49]But it has become increasingly popular in recent months as car prices have greatly increased and motorcycles offer a less costly choice.
[02:01.58]The cheapest four-wheel vehicle in Pakistan costs about $8,265 compared to about $1,345 for a Chinese-made two-wheeler.
[02:15.73]The average yearly income per person in Pakistan is $1,696.
[02:23.92]Sohail Mudassar is a traffic official in Lahore. 
[02:28.68]He said the WOW program has trained at least 6,600 women, and Rashid's group was the 86th since it started.
[02:40.01]Female trainer Humaira Rafaqat added, "Young women are quick learners because they are enthusiastic and take risks."
[02:50.43]One of them, Ghania Raza, is a 23-year-old who is working toward a doctorate in criminology.
[02:58.01]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.
[03:09.71]Shumaila Shafiq is a 36-year-old mother of three and a part-time clothing designer. 
[03:17.74]She said she has been riding her husband's motorcycle to the market and other places after training in the program.
[03:26.44]Shafiq has also designed a short-length abaya for Muslim women to wear while operating a motorcycle.
[03:34.00]She said the long abaya is dangerous because it may get caught in the wheels of the motorcycle.
[03:41.57]I'm Jill Robbins.