Harassment and Psychological Distress among Young Women Traveling in Public Vehicles: Descriptive Cross-sectional Study in a Metropolitan City, Nepal

Abstract

Introduction: Public vehicle harassment is a problem that exists globally both in an open and hidden way and is a serious problem. Public vehicle harassment could be physical, verbal, and non-verbal. This study was designed to assess the prevalence of public vehicle harassment, types, and psychological distress among women aged 15-24 years traveling in Public Vehicles in Lalitpur district, Nepal. Materials and Methods: The Study was conducted in 2019 with a quantitative Research method and the design was cross-sectional. The total sample size for this study was 281. Purposive sampling was done to select the respondents travelling in public vehicles within the age group 15-24 years of Lalitpur district. A semi-structured questionnaire was prepared, and data was collected through face-to-face interviews. We used the Kessler-6 (K6) Psychological Distress Scale to measure distress symptoms. Results: The prevalence of public vehicle harassment was found to be 66.5%, Majority of respondents 117 (62.6%) had experienced harassment 1-2 times and passengers sitting next to them are more responsible for harassment (78.6%) than driver and conductor. The most common harassment was physical harassment with 40.1% harassment and daytime is more prone to harassment. Factors associated with public vehicle harassment were low educational status (COR = 2.19, 95% CI 1.16- 4.14) and psychological distress (COR = 1.70, 95% CI 1.52-1.89). Conclusion: Harassment is more common in public vehicles due to proximity and anonymity, which facilitates a higher occurrence of such behavior with minimal fear of repercussions. Implementing effective awareness campaigns, robust legal measures, and a streamlined, supportive judicial system is crucial to reducing sexual harassment and psychological distress among young women traveling in public vehicles.