Women's Empowerment Through Access to Safe Transport: The Impact of Sexual and Nonsexual Victimization on Female Commuters in Bangladesh and Cambodia.

An examination of women's experience on public transport in Bangladesh and Cambodia found that victimization does reduce perceived safety or transport use. In a cultural context where women are socialized to fear and avoid public spaces, experiencing victimization may confirm rather than change previous beliefs. Moreover, it is possible that the participants' use of public transport was driven by necessity rather than choice and that they were unable to change travel patterns in response to victimization. These findings underscore the importance of targeting public violence toward women and the broader societal norms that limit their participation in public life.

Sleep-impaired emotional regulation, impaired cognition, and poor sleep health are associated with risky sleepy driving in young adults.

Objective: Driving during young adulthood is a time of increased crash risk. Many factors (e.g., driving experience, aggression) contribute to the increased risk, but factors associated with daytime sleepiness and sleep health may also contribute. The current study examined the relationships between experiences of sleepiness, sleep timing and stability, sleep-impaired emotional regulation, and sleep-impaired cognition among younger persons engaging in 2 risky sleepy driving behaviors: Continuing to drive while sleepy and having experienced a sleep-related close call.Method: The study was advertised in the Queensland University of Technology's online environment and 137 young adults (58.39% women) aged 18 to 25 years completed an anonymous online questionnaire assessing aspects related to daytime sleepiness, sleep timing and stability, sleep-impaired emotional regulation, and sleep-impaired cognition.Results: In total, 15.38% of the participants reported that they had experienced a sleep-related close call. The main outcomes were that both age and the sleep-impaired emotional regulation variable were associated with the outcome variables. The study variables accounted for 18.94% of the variance in continuing to drive while sleepy, and the same variables accounted for 42.69% of the variance (Nagelkerke's R2 statistic) in having had a sleep-related close call. Shorter sleep durations and greater levels of sleep-impaired cognition were significantly associated with having a sleep-related close call.Conclusion: Different variables were associated with the 2 risky driving behaviors, suggesting different underlying factors. Sleep-impaired emotional regulation and/or sleep-impaired cognition could be used to signal drivers that they are impaired by sleepiness.

Women judging: Is a young male drunk driver perceived as more negligent than a young female drunk driver?

OBJECTIVE: It is well established that young men are the riskiest group of all drivers, and men in general more often drive under the influence of alcohol. However, potentially oversimplified representations such as a "young male problem" and "drunk driving as a male problem" can influence action and reinforce existing attitudes by selectively directing attention to stereotypically consistent behavior. The purpose of this study was to test the hypothesis of possible bias toward young male drivers in the context of drunk driving. METHODS: We have created a scenario study investigating whether the sex of an imaginary young drunk driver would be associated with a different perceived negligence (ranging from 0 = not negligent at all to 10 = extremely negligent) among our participants. These participants were a representative sample of Finnish female driver's license holders. The data for the study were gathered as part of a larger survey study on women's drinking and driving culture. RESULTS: Perceptions of how negligent a person was depended on the age of the respondents such that the older the respondent, the higher the perceived negligence. Perceived negligence was similar for male and female drivers in the scenario; however, there was an interaction effect between driver sex and the age of respondents. The youngest (20-29 years) and 2 oldest (50-69 years) groups of our respondents found the young woman to be more negligent, whereas the opposite occurred for the other 2 groups. CONCLUSIONS: The results of our imaginary scenario study of a representative sample of Finnish female driver's license holders do not support a hypothesis that there would be a negative bias toward young male drivers in the context of drunk driving behavior.

Predicting self-reported drink driving among middle-aged women.

A substantial and sustained increase in the proportion of drink drivers that is female is observed in many parts of the motorised world. Given this trend, a better understanding of the factors that influence drink driving among women is needed. The current study investigated drink driving among middle-aged women, a relatively under-researched group of female drink drivers. A total of 781 women (age; M=51.36, SD=4.29years) completed a cross-sectional survey measuring a number of alcohol beliefs and drink driving. Among the included alcohol beliefs, viewing alcohol as a form of social enhancement as well as higher perceived heavy episodic drinking among same-aged women and greater acceptability toward this consumption pattern significantly increased the likelihood of self-reported drink driving. However, after adjusting for harmful consumption patterns, only alcohol as form of social enhancement remained significant. These results indicate that middle-aged women who engage in harmful alcohol consumption are more likely to drink drive, but also that the social aspect of drinking is a risk factor. Targeting both harmful consumption patterns as well as alcohol beliefs that are held by middle-aged women may reduce the incidence of drink driving in this group.

Profile of women detected drink driving via Roadside Breath Testing (RBT) in Queensland, Australia, between 2000 and 2011.

BACKGROUND: Drink driving among women is a growing problem in many motorised countries. While research has shown that male and female drink drivers differ on a number of characteristics, few studies have addressed the circumstances surrounding women's drink driving offences specifically. AIM: To add to previous research by comparing apprehension characteristics among men and women and to extend the understanding of the female drink driving problem by investigating the drink driving characteristics that are unique to women. RESULTS: The sample consisted of the 248,173 (21.5% women) drink drivers apprehended between 2000 and 2011 in Queensland, Australia. Gender comparisons showed that women were older, had lower levels of reoffending, and were more likely to be apprehended in Major Cities compared to men. Comparisons of age group and reoffending and non-reoffending among female drink drivers only revealed that higher BAC readings were more common among younger women. Moreover, a substantial minority (13.7%) of women aged 24 years or younger were apprehended with a BAC below 0.05%, reflecting a breach of the zero tolerance BAC for provisional licence holders in Australia. Older women were more likely to be charged with a 'failure to provide a test' offence as a result of refusing to provide a breath or blood sample, indicating that drink driving is associated high levels of stigma for this group. Reoffending occurred among 16.2% of the female drink drivers and these drivers were more likely than non-reoffending drivers to record a mid to high range BAC, to be aged 30-39 or below 21 years, and to be apprehended in Inner Regional or Remote locations. CONCLUSION: Findings highlight the unique circumstances and divergent needs of female drink drivers compared to male drivers and for different groups of female drivers.

The nature and correlates of young women's peer-directed protective behavioral strategies.

OBJECTIVE: Recently, a number of studies have identified self-employed Protective Behavioral Strategies (PBS) as effective in decreasing the level of alcohol-related harm among young people. However, much of the published research has ignored important gender differences, such as women's increased tendency to rely on PBS that are social in nature. To further the understanding of women's PBS, the current study sought to investigate the nature and correlates of the strategies young women employ to keep their friends safe when drinking (i.e., peer-directed PBS). METHOD: A scale measuring peer-directed PBS was developed and administered in conjunction with existing measures of alcohol consumption, personal PBS, and peer attachment. Participants consisted of 422 women aged 18-30 years, recruited among psychology students and the general public. RESULTS: Exploratory factor analysis revealed two clusters of peer-directed PBS; those that were aimed at reducing intoxication among one's friends and those that were designed to minimize alcohol-related harms. Further analysis found a positive relationship between women's tendency to implement personal and peer-directed PBS and that risky drinkers were less likely to engage in personal or peer-directed PBS (either type). CONCLUSION: Findings indicate that personal and peer-directed PBS are related behaviors that are less frequently adopted by risky drinkers.