SLIIT Conference and Symposium Proceedings

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All SLIIT faculties annually conduct international conferences and symposiums. Publications from these events are included in this collection.

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Has files: YesSubject: search.filters.subject.Mobility

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    PublicationOpen Access
    Challenges of Mobility and Access to Transport for People with Visual Impairment and Blindness: An Exploratory Study
    (Emerald Publishing, 2022-12-01) Suraweera, T; Bandara, S; WickramaArachchi, C; Perera, D
    The ability to move around to get things done to fulfill one’s wants, and needs is critical for independent living, irrespective of his or her age or existence of impairments or disabilities. Safe and efficient mobility with confidence is widely recognized as influential factors of the positive wellbeing of persons with visual impairment and blindness. Inability to confidently move around pushes persons with visual impairment and blindness to a risk of social exclusion. Even though research into this area is significant, such research in developing countries like Sri Lanka is quite limited. While aiming at bridging the said knowledge gap, this research intended to explore challenges and obstacles of mobility and transport experienced by people with visual impairment and blindness in Sri Lanka. This study adopted a qualitative method through in-depth interviews. Fifteen persons with visual impairment and blindness were purposively chosen to represent a wide range of social and economic boundaries and interviewed in May-August 2021. With the prior consent of respondents, interviews were recorded and transcribed. The interview transcriptions were analyzed using a thematic approach. Data triangulation was done through focus group discussion and observation methods. The results confirmed that persons with visual impairment and blindness confronted challenges and obstacles in mobility and transport that is discussed in six themes: deficient infrastructure, access to information, improper attitudes of sighted persons, service provider issues, personal attitudes, and support. The findings urge the importance of implementing the existing provisions while introducing relevant public policies and social awareness.
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    PublicationOpen Access
    Travel Issues of Sri Lankan Females
    (SLIIT, 2022-02-11) Karunarathne, T. S; Amarasingha, N
    This research looks into the mobility problems that female travelers undergo, with an emphasis on Sri Lankan women. Males and females have different social and economic roles and obligations in most civilizations, and as a result, there are major gender variations in travel and transportation demands. The aim of this research is to investigate the mobility issues of females while traveling. This research analyzes mobility problems of female travelers with special reference to the Western province of Sri Lanka. This research targets to identify the mobility barriers which affect the females’ lifestyle, the problems, and threats females have faced, and the way they go through these problems. The socioeconomic, perspective of people, and travel behavior data were collected from 450 females by using a paper-based questionnaire in August 2021. Ordinal logistic regression analysis and Chi-square test were used to analyze the data. According to the results, sexual harassment while traveling was a significant problem. Among the respondents, 17% of respondents stated that sexual harassment was the most concerning security risk when traveling and 46.8% of female respondents faced sexual harassment when traveling by buses. Based on the types of harassment 26% of females experienced physical harassment as the most frequent harassment type and 25% experienced verbal harassment in public places or public transportation. Majority 42% of the females were strongly stated that they faced sexual harassment problems after dark. Poor maintenance of open public spaces, overcrowded buses/trains, lack of effective/visible police or civil guards, and lack of regulation on transport safety such as men dealing with or taking alcohol/drugs were factors that contribute to sexual harassment by females in public places and transport. The results of this analysis provide valuable insights into the mobility problems of female travelers in day-to-day life due to various reasons.