PHOTOS: Pilot Program: Pink Parking Areas For Pregnant Women In Rehovot

(PHOTOS IN EXTENDED ARTICLE)

The 3 parking spaces included in the pilot are located near the main clinics in the city of Rehovot; Binyamin, Similansky and Chen Chen. They were painted pink and the appropriate signs were placed next to them. The municipality will issue summonses if a vehicle parks there illegally.

Female residents will be entitled to enjoy this right after receiving an appropriate sticker from the city, based on submitting a letter from a physician documenting she is pregnant. It will remain valid for a period of time following birth as well, to facilitate visits to clinics.

The pink parking trend already exists around the world and even caused a media uproar. In 2012, the German city of Trierberg came under harsh criticism for these parking spots and those responsible were accused of discrimination because women’s parking spaces were wider and brighter than the male version. In Austria and Italy there are also parking spaces for women only.

In China’s Qianjiang Province, the Qianjiang Evening News reported a shopping center in Hangzhou that offers women a parking area of their own that is not only reserved for women but has been specially designed for women and is 50 percent wider than “ordinary.”

There are actually already pink parking spaces in Israel in the cities of Tel Aviv, Ramat Gan and Rishon L’Tzion, and it seems that through this initiative, Rehovot is turning into a more friendly city for women.

According to a Rehovot Hayom report, the initiative started with the urging of a city resident, Irit Aharoni, who turned to Deputy Mayor attorney Matan Dell because of the difficulty she had in finding parking near buildings and institutions during a difficult pregnancy.

Mayor Rachamim Malul: “Rehovot is attentive to every need of every person. The best initiatives come from residents, and we hope that the solution we have found will serve the women in need and that we will be able to crown the pilot successfully and move on to the implementation stage throughout the city.”