Moroccan Capital’s First Female Taxi Driver Breaks Barriers, Earns Trust

This 33-year-old woman, a taxi driver in the Moroccan capital, first started driving refrigerated trucks for a fish distribution company, before deciding to change jobs in order to improve her sources of income and afford better living conditions. "I love challenges," Souad told Reuters. With this job, she earns enough money to pay off the mortgage on her apartment and support her family.

Several women in the area are satisfied with Souad’s services. "Mothers often trust me to pick up their children from school when they are busy. Other women also call on me because they feel more at ease with me than with men," she explains. "We need more women taxi drivers," wishes Nouhila, a customer, who specifies that women would feel safer and less exposed if many taxi drivers were women.

Yet seven women practiced this male-dominated profession in the capital. But for reasons of sexual harassment, they had to stop working, with the exception of Souad. The taxi driver’s job is very difficult in Morocco, even for men, with no health insurance and no retirement benefits. The head of the taxi drivers’ union, Mohamed Touiti, is calling for a reform of the sector and for the state to declare the drivers as part of the social security system. As for Souad, she has big ambitions. "My wish is to work in international transport... For now, I am in the process of obtaining different types of driver’s licenses," she specifies.