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Equal access to safe transport is increasingly conceptualised as a fundamental right for women, with demonstrated impact on health outcomes, social and economic mobility, and societal participation. This study analysed qualitative and quantitative data to examine travel patterns and experiences among 200 women (aged between 18-64 years) using paid transport for work or educational purposes in Bangladesh. Results showed that the women faced multiple threats to their safety, including gender-based violence, harassment and crime, and traffic and non-traffic injury and that the use of paid transport was associated with high levels of anxiety and fear. Despite these circumstances, the women were captive travellers, forced to make transport choices based on price, availability, and ease of travel rather than safety. Unable to choose safe transports, the women attempted to mitigate risks by changing their travel pattern and behaviour, and by restricted their travel frequency. These findings are discussed within the context of women’s rights and mobility justice.

In African countries, women with disability encounter severe discrimination as their devalued status as women intersects with negative and hostile community attitudes toward disability. Women with ...

Through their anti-oppressive professional practice and commitment to social justice and human rights, social workers can ensure people with disability exercise voice and agency and claim full citi...

Young drivers are more likely to continue driving when experiencing signs of sleepiness and are over-represented in sleep-related crashes. Adolescence and early adulthood are characterised by comparatively poor executive functioning, and while previous research has demonstrated a link between poor executive functions and several risky driving behaviours, the relationship with sleepy driving is not well understood. Accordingly, the first aim of the current study was to examine the association between executive functions and experiencing the signs of driver sleepiness in a sample of young adult drivers. Additionally, young drivers who have less experience with driving while sleepy, may attribute less importance to the signs of sleepiness as an indicator of underlying sleepiness level. To test this assumption (aim two), the impact of experiencing signs of sleepiness on perceptions of the importance of those signs was examined. Participants included 118 young adults aged between 17 and 25 years, who completed an online survey measuring experiences with the signs of sleepiness while driving, executive functions, and demographic characteristics. This sample of young adults reported having considerable experience with several signs of sleepiness (i.e., yawning, mind wandering, and difficulty keeping eyes while driving). A linear regression analysis found that the demographic variables of age and hours driven per week, as well as the executive function constructs of organization, strategic planning, and impulse control were associated with experiencing signs or sleepiness. Moreover, having experienced more signs of sleepiness was associated with an increased likelihood in rating those signs as important indicators of sleepiness. The current findings suggest both that several high-level cognitive processes as well as levels of experience with driving when experiencing signs of sleepiness contribute to young peoples’ sleepy driving.

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 daytim...

There is growing emphasis on disability-inclusive disaster management within key international guidance on disaster management. Yet, people with disability (PWD) are routinely excluded from the disaster management cycle and ignored or forgotten during all phases. This study explored barriers to inclusive disaster management through in-depth interviews with nine PWD and two carers of PWD from the Solomon Islands in 2015. Findings indicate PWD in the Solomon Islands are invisible in disasters. Failure to involve PWD can be linked to stigma, discrimination and the hidden nature of some disabilities. Government and aid organisations had a poor understanding of disability-specific needs in disasters and PWD had received no information on how to manage during or post disasters. Negative societal views of PWD perpetuated exclusion; based on notions that they are unable to actively contribute. Unequal access to resources, failure to adapt the built environment, and poor housing are problems PWD heightened the vulnerability of PWD in disasters. Raising awareness, combatting negative attitudes, and addressing discrimination would reduce vulnerability and result in better outcomes during disasters for all people in the Solomon Islands, inclusive of PWD. Findings of the research are relevant for PWD, not only in the Global South, but also in the Global North.

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.

Young adults continue to be overrepresented in alcohol-related crashes on Australian roads. Social factors are important factors associated with drink driving behaviours among young adults and have been the focus of several intervention efforts. However, research also demonstrates that personality constructs are associated with an increased likelihood of engaging in harmful drinking and risky driving behaviours. To better understand the influence of both social and personality constructs with drink driving, 390 male and female licenced drivers aged 18–24 years completed a questionnaire that assessed Akers' social learning theory constructs and the personality constructs of Behavioural Inhibition System (BIS) and Behavioural Approach System (BAS) for their association with drink driving in the past 12 months. Result indicated that a relatively large proportion (36.67%) of participants engaged in drink driving. A sequential logistic regression analysis further found that several social and personality variables were associated with drink driving. Specifically, the Akers’ social learning theory constructs of Personal Definitions, Differential Reinforcement–Punishment (High), Differential Association Drink Driving–Friends, and Imitation–Friends variables and the BAS constructs of Fun Seeking and Drive were associated with drink driving. While these findings highlight the importance of targeting the social context around drink driving, the impact of personality constructs also warrants consideration with intervention efforts.

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to produce the views of parents and siblings of adults with intellectual or developmental disability (ID/DD) around the use of psychotropic medication to manage challenging behaviour (CB) where there is no co-existing mental illness.Design/methodology/approachSeven family members of six adults with ID/DD were interviewed using semi-structured interviews, over the telephone or face-to-face. The interviews were transcribed, coded and thematically analysed.FindingsThis paper identified that if used appropriately, psychotropic medication to manage CB may be of benefit to some people with ID/DD; but there is a need to ensure the medication is prescribed for the benefits of people with ID/DD rather than those around them. Drawing on the knowledge of family may allow for the use of alternative strategies and the reduction of medication to manage CB. There is the need for improved communication with family members, inclusive decision making, and access to information regarding the philosophy and legislation regarding medication used to manage CB in adults with ID/DD.Originality/valueThis paper presents views of a small cohort of family members of people with ID/DD in Queensland, Australia. Findings can be used to improve approaches taken by service providers in their interactions with people with ID/DD prescribed psychotropic medication to manage CB, and their family members.

Problem In Australia, as in many other countries, a disproportionate number of drink driving crashes occur on rural roads. Aims and method The study used Queensland Police Random Breath Testing (RBT) data from 2000–2011 to (a) comparing drink driving rates and RBT efficacy in areas of increasing remoteness (b) compare drink driver factors and the circumstances of apprehensions in rural and urban areas. Results Generally, rural areas had a higher detection rate per RBT intercepts and a greater number of apprehensions per licensed drivers than the state average. Main effects showed that rural drivers were more likely to be male and to be a reoffender but less likely to be apprehended between midnight and 5.59 am and after visiting a licensed venue. Urban drivers were more likely to be aged 17‒49 years and to be apprehended with a BAC < 0.15%. Conclusion Differences in RBT effectiveness and drink driving factors and circumstances exist between rural and urban areas. Practical application: The greater number of drink drivers in rural areas signal a need for targeted interventions in these areas. To increase the effectiveness of such interventions, further research should examine the mechanisms responsible for these observed differences between rural and urban drink driver.

Highlights - Drink driving is increasing among middle-aged women in Australia and elsewhere. - The influence of alcohol beliefs and harmful drinking on self-reported drink driving was examined among Australian women aged 45–59 years. - Harmful alcohol use and the idea of alcohol as a social enhancer predicted drink driving in the current sample. - In addition to harmful drinking, the need to travel home after social gatherings involving alcohol may be a predictor of drink driving. Abstract 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 = 4.29 years) 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.

Objective: While driveway run-over incidents continue to be a cause of serious injury and deaths among young children in Australia, few empirically evaluated educational interventions have been developed which address these incidents. Addressing this gap, this study describes the development and evaluation of a paper-based driveway safety intervention targeting caregivers of children aged 5 years or younger. Design: Cross-sectional survey. Method and setting: Informed by previous research, the intervention targeted key caregiver safety behaviours that address driveway risks. To assess the impact of the intervention, 137 Queensland (Australia) caregivers (95.0% women; mean age = 34.97 years) were recruited. After receiving the intervention, changes to a number of outcomes such as caregiver risk perception, safety knowledge and behavioural intentions were measured. Results: Findings indicated that the intervention had increased general and specific situational risk awareness and safety knowledge among a substantial proportion of participants. Close to one-quarter of the sample strongly agreed that the intervention had increased these outcomes. In addition, 71.6% of the sample reported that they intended to make changes to their routine in and around the driveway, as a result of reading the intervention material and a further, quarter of the participants strongly agreed that the information provided would be a help both to themselves (26.5%) and other caregivers (33.8%) to keep their children safe in the driveway. Conclusion: While the educational intervention requires further validation, findings from this study suggest that intervention content and format increases driveway safety.

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 below0.05%, 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 21years, 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.

While initial research supports the effectiveness of protective strategies in mitigating young people's alcohol-related harm, few studies have investigated these behaviours from a uniquely female perspective. Yet, young women consume alcohol within a social context that is distinctly different from that of young men and face risks that are specific to their gender. To explore a group of young Australian women's experiences, perceptions of risks and use of protective strategies in relation to drinking in public places, we conducted either focus groups or one-on-one telephone interviews with a total of 40 women aged 18–24 years. While young women reported substantial risks associated with drinking, they also reported using a range of protective behaviours that moderated the adverse effects of alcohol, with most of these strategies being derived from the friendship group to which the women belonged. Our findings add to the limited body of knowledge on women's insights into, and their use of protective strate...

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 18-30years, 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. Language: en