Close up: Susana Sanchez, taxista

It started as a routine pickup for Susana Sánchez: a man hopped into the backseat of her taxi and gave directions. When the customer began changing the route, she started to worry. In a narrow alley, he demanded all her money at knifepoint. Frustrated that she only had 30 pesos, he repeatedly stabbed her right leg, leaving her unable to work for three months.

Image:Roberto Salvador

Susana Sanchez

“I was scared, but I knew it was time to get organized, get protection,” she says of that night in 1995. Sánchez started contacting other female taxi drivers and began her thirteen-year struggle for the rights of female taxistas. Although only 70 women taxi drivers are officially registered in the DF, Sánchez says there are actually about 5000. With their support, she founded the Asociación de Taxistas y Transportistas Femeninas Protegiéndose entre Mujeres (Mutual Protection Association of Women Taxi Drivers, or PROEM) in 1998.

Each year hundreds of taxi crimes against women are reported, from robberies to male drivers using hidden mirrors to spy on female passengers. PROEM attempted to launch an all-female taxi service to reduce taxi crimes, but city and delegation officials showed little interest. “No one believed in us,” Sánchez says. “They thought it would never work.”

Last year, when PRD lawmakers proposed to import the UK-based female taxi service Pink Ladies, she was furious: “That was our proposal—we made it years ago.” PROEM sent officials a letter of protest. The Pink Ladies proposal was rejected, but PROEM’s plan still hasn’t garnered government support. “I’m not sad, because [they] saw that an all-female taxi service does work,” Sánchez says. “We’re not going to stop fighting.”

Confronting discrimination is a daily struggle for women taxistas. As one of the first in the city, Sánchez, 45, remembers being teased by male colleagues when she picked up her credentials. Some customers refuse service from a woman, leading some drivers to cut their hair short and dress like men in order to get fares.

Sánchez never imagined that being a taxi driver would transform her life. After her divorce in 1994, she looked for a fresh career, but employers didn’t want to hire the mother of three. After many rejections, Sánchez turned to her brother, who owned three taxis and often had no-show drivers. “It made sense,” she said. “I knew how to drive, and there was an empty car.”

Today, PROEM has a taxi stand at the Tlatelolco metro station with about forty female drivers. They carry both men and women, and they’ve also had to incorporate male drivers because of assault threats. For now, PROEM is raising funds for a permanent base with an office and bathroom, and to provide housing assistance for its members.

“I started this journey a submissive woman, and now I’m a leader.” Sanchez said. “I have created jobs and security for these women, so I’m happy.”

Nancy Flores, a native of the border town of Eagle Pass, Texas, is a freelance journalist living with her husband in Mexico City. She can be reached at nancyflores15@yahoo.com.