These Cities Have The Most Dangerous Public Transportation Systems For Women

These Cities Have The Most Dangerous Public Transportation Systems For Women

A survey of some of the world's biggest cities has found that public transportation is most dangerous for women in three Latin American capitals.

The poll by YouGov and The Thomson Reuters Foundation asked over 6,550 women and gender experts about their perceptions of safety for women in the city's transport system. The survey was conducted in 15 out of the 20 largest world's largest capitals, as well as New York, the biggest city in the U.S.

Survey results, released Wednesday, found women feel least safe traveling on public trains and buses in the capitals of Colombia, Mexico and Peru. In Mexico City, 64 percent of women surveyed said they had been physically harassed while using public transport. New York was ranked highest for safety on public transport.

Beyond the immediate dangers, if women don't feel secure to travel to school or get to work, they are less likely to realize their earning potential, experts say. This can "seriously jeopardize" women's role in the wider economy, warns a United Nations report on gender and urban life.

These are the cities with the most dangerous transport systems for women according to the survey:

1
Bogota
GUILLERMO LEGARIA/AFP/Getty Images
Public buses at a central station in Bogota, Colombia, on March 4, 2014.
2
Mexico City
AP Photo/Eduardo Verdugo
Women stand inside a crowded train car in Mexico City, March 5, 2004.
3
Lima
AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd
A girl sleeps on the shoulder of her mother in a public bus in the San Isidro neighborhood in Lima, Peru, July 17, 2013.
4
Delhi
Sonu Mehta/Hindustan Times via Getty Images
Passengers travel in a women-only metro train compartment in New Delhi, India, June 26, 2014.
5
Jakarta
AP Photo/Tatan Syuflana
People ride on top of a crowded commuter train in Jakarta, Indonesia, May 29, 2013.

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