VOA新闻杂志2025--Program Helps Pakistani Women Learn to Ride, Gain Independence

Laiba Rashid is a 22-year-old Pakistani student in a special training program in the city of Lahore. The program, called Women on Wheels (WOW), teaches women how to operate two-wheelers, or motorcycles. Rashid hopes her life will change after she learns how to ride a motorcycle.

Although the program is 7 years old, it is still rare to see women ride motorcycles. 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. The WOW program is offered free by the Lahore traffic police.

"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.

She said she wants to buy a motorcycle to go to college, adding that, before, there were no women drivers in her family. "Now everybody is convinced that women should be independent in their movement to schools, jobs and markets," she said.

Bushra Iqbal Hussain is a social activist¹ and director of Safe Childhood. Hussain said women driving two-wheelers has been a cultural and religious taboo². But, she said, more women are now changing the culture like they did in the 1980s with regular cars to reduce their dependence³ on men to move around.

The WOW program has been in operation since 2017. But it has become increasingly popular in recent months as car prices have greatly increased and motorcycles offer a less costly⁴ choice.

The cheapest four-wheel vehicle in Pakistan costs about $8,265 compared to about $1,345 for a Chinese-made two-wheeler. The average yearly income per person in Pakistan is $1,696.

Sohail Mudassar is a traffic official in Lahore. He said the WOW program has trained at least 6,600 women, and Rashid's group was the 86th since it started. Female trainer Humaira Rafaqat added, "Young women are quick learners because they are enthusiastic and take risks."

Breaking glass ceiling

One of them, Ghania Raza, is a 23-year-old who is working toward a doctorate⁵ in criminology. 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.

Shumaila Shafiq is a 36-year-old mother of three and a part-time clothing designer. She said she has been riding her husband's motorcycle to the market and other places after training in the program.

Shafiq has also designed a short-length abaya for Muslim women to wear while operating a motorcycle. She said the long abaya is dangerous because it may get caught in the wheels of the motorcycle.

I'm Jill Robbins.

Mubasher Bukhari reported this story for Reuters. Jill Robbins adapted it for Learning English.

___________________________________________

Words in This Story

convinced - adj. completely certain or sure about something; persuaded

taboo - n. not acceptable⁶ to talk about or do

cheap - adj. not costing a lot of money

enthusiastic - adj. feeling or showing strong excitement about something : filled with or marked by enthusiasm

glass ceiling - n. an upper limit to achievement by a group of people

abaya - n. a simple, loose, robe-like dress worn by conservative Muslim women

1 activist   

n.活动分子，积极分子

参考例句：

• He's been a trade union activist for many years.多年来他一直是工会的积极分子。
• He is a social activist in our factory.他是我厂的社会活动积极分子。

2 taboo   

n.禁忌，禁止接近，禁止使用；adj.禁忌的；v.禁忌，禁制，禁止

参考例句：

• The rude words are taboo in ordinary conversation.这些粗野的字眼在日常谈话中是禁忌的。
• Is there a taboo against sex before marriage in your society?在你们的社会里，婚前的性行为犯禁吗？

3 dependence   

n.依靠，依赖；信任，信赖；隶属

参考例句：

• Doctors keep trying to break her dependence of the drug.医生们尽力使她戒除毒瘾。
• He was freed from financial dependence on his parents.他在经济上摆脱了对父母的依赖。

4 costly   

adj.昂贵的，价值高的，豪华的

参考例句：

• It must be very costly to keep up a house like this.维修这么一幢房子一定很昂贵。
• This dictionary is very useful,only it is a bit costly.这本词典很有用，左不过贵了些。

5 doctorate   

n.(大学授予的)博士学位

参考例句：

• He hasn't enough credits to get his doctorate.他的学分不够取得博士学位。
• Where did she do her doctorate?她在哪里攻读博士？

6 acceptable   

adj.可接受的，合意的，受欢迎的

参考例句：

• The terms of the contract are acceptable to us.我们认为这个合同的条件可以接受。
• Air pollution in the city had reached four times the acceptable levels.这座城市的空气污染程度曾高达可接受标准的四倍。