- Titel
- FLINTA* Mobility – Challenges and Technological Support for Everyday Mobility of Female and Queer Persons Aged 15-24 in Vienna
- Zitierfähige Url:
- https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:bsz:ch1-qucosa2-1014908
- Konferenz
- 9th Humanist Virtual Centre of Excellence Conference 2025. Chemnitz, 27.-29. August 2025
- Quellenangabe
- The 9th HUMANIST Conference - Virtual Centre of Excellence - Chemnitz, Germany 27–29 August 2025
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.60687/2026-0013
- Abstract (EN)
- 1 INTRODUCTION „I can’t stand the traffic anymore. Especially if you are a woman, it is terrible in the evening. Therefore, I really want to get my own car.“ (Yasmina - anonymized, female, 16 years) FLINTA* people are often neither involved in transport services and their infrastructure nor in the design processes. The term FLINTA* (women, lesbians, intersex, non-binary, trans and agender people) includes both female-bodied and queer people and therefore those groups „who are patriarchally discriminated against because of their gender identity.“ (Ehbauer, 2022, translation from the German original quote) Their mobility needs are rather unattended. This makes the smartphone an important mobility assistant, especially for women. Although the smartphone can reinforce their perceived safety for example, it conversely also leads to an overload. New concerns regarding their own mobility arise: the fear of an empty battery, concerns about the use of personal data or complicated handling of apps are added to fear of crime, concerns about too many/too less/the wrong people or inappropriate ‚dress up‘. (Catulli et al, 2023, 2-11) Beside females also queer people have to deal with numerous aspects that affect their perceived safety and comfort during mobility. Moreover, different transport modes and different travel times – especially the night – are perceived differently in terms of safety. People who are (seen as) queer and female are part of the most harassed group in public transport. Additionally intersectional discrimination is on effect. This not only leads to restrictions on their mobility, for example by (having to) avoid certain lines or (‘no go’) areas, but also to personal restrictions when they are forced to fit their own body and its perception into public spaces and make them appear inconspicuous (‘passing’). Thus (safe) infrastructure is also an important topic for this group. (Weintrob et al, 2021, 780-785; Liersch, 2024, 75-99; Ivanonva & O’Hern, 2024, 5) As a result FLINTA* people could benefit from an expansion of (gender-equal) mobility as a service. (Fang et al, 2021) FLINTA* Mobility is examined as part of the project JuMp! - Youth in (sub)urban mobility processes. The JuMp!-project investigates gender equality and different mobility needs of the target group of 15–24-year-olds and the user-friendliness and handling of communication and planning technologies for mobility activities. https://www.angstfreimobil.at/jump-das-neue-projekt/ 2 RESEARCH DETAILS The research questions address challenges of FLINTA* persons aged 15-24 encounter in their everyday mobility (RQ1) and the contribution of geomedia and social media to improving equitable mobility for FLINTA* persons (RQ2). 2.1 Theoretical approach: The theoretical basis for the project is formed by the concepts of mobility justice and freedom of mobility (Sheller, 2018; Hasebrinck, 2014) on the one hand and design justice and digital disadvantage (Chock 2020; Durand et al., 2022) on the other. These approaches are supplemented by a feminist examination of human–computer interaction (Bellini et al. 2022). 2.2 Method design: In the project JuMp! a multi-method approach is being pursued, which contains accompanied mobility walks combined with in-depth interviews. The transcripts of the recorded walks and interviews are completed by photos and videos as well as screenshots and screen recordings of home screens and apps. (Kusenbach, 2003; Pink et al, 2015) Individual interviews with 15-24 year olds from the suburbs of Vienna are preferred (due to challenging mobility experiences on the outer districts with night busses and on-demand-service infrastructure) besides friend-paired (2) or group (3-4) interviews. The respondents were selected according to a strategic sampling after a pretest. Following the saturation principle, the number of interviews and walks should ideally consist of 12 sets. Moreover, 23 flash interviews with young females in youth centres on the outskirts of Vienna are used, which were conducted during the exploration phase at the beginning of the project. EU GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation) compliance as well as ethical requirements are of particular importance in the context of the walk/interview sets. All data is pseudonymized immediately during the transcription-process. Since recruitment is carried out in cooperation with youth organizations, contact information and interview content are never linked. 3 MOBILITY INSIGHTS Preliminary results show that some aspects play a particular role when it comes to FLINTA* mobility: Nighttime mobility is identified as a major issue. Other people – mostly identified male – are seen as a challenge in mobility processes and affect (perceived) safety, often due to influence of alcohol and the unpredictability. Other relevant aspects are effects of external appearance – as hight, (heavy, “man-repelling”) makeup and obvious characteristics of queer identity – on perceived safety. Technology and smartphones serve as a safety strategy for young FLINTAS* e.g. to (pretend to) make phone calls or share location, especially via WhatsApp and Snapchat with their close ones. 4 IMPACT OF RESULTS Our participants confirm that they themselves have been affected verbal and non-verbal harassment. Therefore, in their point of view, awareness is the most important aspect. Suggestions to improve transport services and to rise awareness should be: awareness teams, support when it comes to harassment and help against the aggressors as well as FLINTA* sensitive driver training. To make this possible, the JuMp!-project is collaborating with Vienna's public transport operator.
- Freie Schlagwörter (EN)
- FLINTA* Mobility, Mobility Justice, Mobility Needs, Youth Mobility
- Klassifikation (DDC)
- 158
- Normschlagwörter (GND)
- Mobilität, Anforderung, Jugend
- Herausgeber (Institution)
- Technische Universität Chemnitz, Chemnitz
- Version / Begutachtungsstatus
- publizierte Version / Verlagsversion
- URN Qucosa
- urn:nbn:de:bsz:ch1-qucosa2-1014908
- Veröffentlichungsdatum Qucosa
- 20.01.2026
- Dokumenttyp
- Konferenzbeitrag
- Sprache des Dokumentes
- Englisch
- Lizenz / Rechtehinweis
CC BY-SA 4.0