How to Facilitate Travel Safety for Female Employees

In the wake of the #metoo and #timesup movements that swept the globe over the past few months, it’s time that we discuss the elephant in the room - men and women may be on equal footing when it comes to responsibility in the workplace, but we travel differently. A recent study by a a worldwide leader in travel insurance found that almost half of all female travellers feel less safe travelling now than they did five years ago, while more than 80% reported that their employers did not provide any guidance in terms of personal safety while travelling for work.

The ongoing battle for gender equality in the workplace has opened a cultural chasm that gives rise to commentary like ‘if you want to be equal, you can’t expect to be singled out’, but the fact is that women travelling alone are far more likely to become victims of pickpocketing, credit card fraud, identity theft, cab scams and even abduction. As such, besides compiling a go-to list of personal safety tips and procedures that can be distributed to all travelling employees, forward-thinking employers should work towards establishing best practices that allow their female employees to feel as safe as possible when they’re travelling for business. This includes:

• Flights that arrive at a reasonable hour, that won’t require a lone female employee to navigate a largely empty airport at the dead of night, or hail a cab in the dark.
• Scheduled airport transfer to take the employee to their accommodation venue, or a rental car with a navigation system. from a reputable agency that is open around the clock with staff onsite.
• Providing options of safe travel routes to and from their place of accommodation and the locations of the various meetings they have to attend.
• Accommodation with 24-hour front desk and security staff, that is located on a busy street with a well-lit entrance, and has individual hotel rooms that can only be accessed from within the hotel building.

Following these guidelines will pave the way to a more secure travelling experience for your female employees. Keep an eye on the blog in coming weeks and months for more insight into staying safe when you hit the road. In the meantime, feel free to get in touch with our team of expert corporate travel planners who take great pride in working with businesses throughout southern Africa to promote safe and sustainable travel for all their employees.