Practical guidelines which will help to make parks and green spaces safer
for women and girls across the UK have been launched at a conference organised
by the University of Leeds.
It follows a
recent study of a cross-section
of more than a hundred women and girls from West Yorkshire which found that
most believed their local parks to be unsafe.
The document is
a partnership between Mayor Brabin, the University of Leeds, Make Space for Girls and Keep Britain Tidy, and is aimed at
park managers, local authorities, police and community groups. The project was funded by
The guidance is primarily aimed at parks
managers, landscape architects and other public realm design professionals
across the UK, and helps stakeholders understand gender-sensitive principles of
safety and implement changes at varying scales and budgets.
Dr Anna Barker, an Associate Professor in Criminal Justice & Criminology
in the University of Leeds’ School of Law led the original
research and has organised today’s conference.
She said:
“In Britain, women are three times less likely than men to feel safe in a park
during the day.
“This is
worse after dark, when as many as four out of five women in Britain say that
they would feel unsafe walking alone in a park, compared to two out of five men.
“All these
factors mean that women and girls are less likely to use parks than men and
boys, a situation which has a significant impact on their lives. Our
guidelines, covering ten principles for design and management, can enable
decision-makers to enact change.”
The guidance will be launched as part of a two-day conference entitled Women and Girls' Safety in Parks: Lessons from
Research and Practice. The
opening session will be chaired by Alison Lowe OBE, Deputy Mayor for Policing and
Crime in West Yorkshire, and the guidance itself will be introduced by the
Mayor of West Yorkshire Tracy Brabin, who funded the work as part of her Safety of Women and
Girls Strategy
Among others
attending will be representatives from the Suzy Lamplugh Trust, Women in Sport,
Keep Britain Tidy, and Make Space for Girls.
Keep Britain Tidy’s Chef Executive, Allison Ogden-Newton
OBE, said: “It’s critical that we understand what makes women and girls feel
safe or unsafe across our green spaces and what needs to change to make them
feel able to use their local park.”
“Our own research already shows that 70% of people in urban
areas do not have access to good quality green space, rising to 75.8% in the
most deprived areas. When coupled with women’s concerns about using those few
green spaces they have access to, it means there is a real inequality. We must
tackle it collectively, and as a priority.”
“We are proud to be a part of this important and much
needed project.”
The organisations behind the new guidelines hope decision-makers will now
review all their parks in partnership with the police and engage with women and
girls specifically on safety, ensuring that those who do not currently use the
parks are included.
They are
also calling for the new guidance and the results of their discussions with
women and girls to be incorporated into management plans for parks and green
spaces and reviewed regularly.
