This is the third of four stories of women bicycle users in Lisbon that we are publishing. Stay tuned or watch for the next episode.
Victória Clemente
12 years old, Belém
"I use public transportation regularly, and I always have those insecurities and fears that I never felt on the bike. I feel much safer on the bike than I do on a lot of public transportation."
Lisboa Para Pessoas publishes four stories of women in Lisbon who make the bicycle their preferred means of transportation. A partnership with MUBi - Association for Urban Mobility on Bicycles and your project +MAP - More Women on Bikes.
After the stories of Luiza Borges and Maria Luísa Sousawe publish Victory's.
What is your experience with cycling in the city?
I use the bike a lot in leisure mode and to run errands. As a means of transportation itself, I use it in conjunction with public transportation: sometimes I take the bus to school, sometimes I ride my bike. I will mention that I also use the bike outside the city - for example, last summer I did a 250 km trip with my father.
Main difficulty: My biggest difficulty, and the reason I don't ride my bike to school much, is the weight of the backpack. When the backpack goes too heavy it is difficult to carry it on the bike.
Council: Have more confidence and not be afraid to ride a bike.
Tell us about how your gender has conditioned, or not, that experience.
I don't see much difference in being a girl. But being a girl, for example, there are not so many things I can do with my father, and cycling is one thing we both like to do. My dad and I ride bikes a lot, and I think it's something that brings us closer together and makes us more friends.
If you consider that it has conditioned, what situations have you experienced, when using the bicycle, where you felt somehow unequal, unsafe or lack of access because you are a woman?
As I said, I regularly use public transportation, and I always have those insecurities and fears that I never felt on the bicycle. I feel much safer on the bike than on many public transports.
From your perspective, what is missing for more women to regularly use the bicycle as a mode of transportation?
There is a lack of confidence. For example, about a year ago I was afraid to use public transportation and today it is my main means of transportation. The bicycle is no different. By making it a habit, you lose your fear of riding a bicycle.
Launched on March 8th, the project +MAP - More Women on Bikes is an initiative of MUBi - Association for Urban Mobility on Bicycles which aims to function as a meeting point around gender issues - a space where you can talk about the evident gaps in women's bicycling, and break down prejudices and social obstacles.
