“Pink Taxi" services have started in Sivas, a central Anatolian province of Turkey. Not only is the taxi service meant for women passengers only, but the Pink Taxis have female drivers exclusively.
The service was created for women who feel uneasy getting into a cab alone with a male driver because of safety concerns.
According to a statement from Sivas Municipality, Gökhan Şimşek, manager of a cab stand, appealed to the municipality to establish women-only taxi services. The municipality licensed Şimşek after examining the application.
“We had to respond to this request. The drivers of these taxis will be women and the passengers will be women or families. In this way, an important need will be met," said Erdoğan Yuvacı, directorate of transportation services in Sivas.
Gamze Taşkın, a driver for Pink Taxi, pointed out the importance of this new practice for women. She also stated that she hope this application would decrease violence against women.
Previously, a local taxi stand in Çubuk district of Ankara offered women-only service with two female taxi drivers. Following requests from customers, Ömürdede Taxi Stand employed two female drivers, Gül Özdilek and Filiz Çınar.
Similar services have been established in other countries before, in various forms.An all-female livery service, SheTaxi, was established in New York in 2014.
Also in December 2015, Egypt for the first time introduced women-only buses in the Nile Delta city of Damanhour. Six out of 66 government-owned buses have been allocated for women only, while five of the buses are for women and one is designated for women with disabilities. Women-only minibuses have been in use for years in India.
