Safer Parks

Helen Forman, Urban Design Manager, West Yorkshire Combined Authority, details the Authority’s initiative to improve safety for women and girls in greenspaces. 

In Britain, women are three times more likely than men to feel unsafe in a park during the day. This ratio is much more marked in parks than other public places, such as streets or public transport (ONS 2022), and is shockingly unfair.

At the West Yorkshire Combined Authority, we commissioned Dr Anna Barker from the University of Leeds to help us find out more about women and teenage girls’ perceptions of safety in parks, supported by the Safer Streets Fund in 2021. The research was conducted with a diverse sample of over 100 women and girls, as well as parks professionals from our five districts. They told us so much. Many teenage girls felt that parks were not ‘for them’ and that equipment and facilities were used mainly by boys. Some women hadn’t visited their local park due to safety fears; others scheduled their visits during busier times when they felt safer, such as during Park Run.

I was particularly struck by one comment from a teenage girl when asked for comments on an image of a Multi-Use Games Area (MUGA) in one research exercise. “What’s that white van doing there?” she asked. I hadn’t even noticed it, parked next to the MUGA, but its presence was enough to make her wary; she couldn’t see who was inside. As women in public spaces, we learn early to scan the environment for potential threats and plan our escape. This is a tough truth, and the women and girls we interviewed told us that society needed to change.

The research identified a number of areas of consensus about how a park can affect feelings of safety. Working with Keep Britain Tidy and Make Space for Girls alongside the university, we used the findings to produce guidance on the design and management of parks. Safer Parks: Improving Access for Women and Girls was published in May 2023. It includes ten principles under three themes:

• Eyes on the Park reflects that the presence of others, especially other women, makes women and girls feel safer.
• Awareness addresses design issues that can help women and girls feel more secure.
• Inclusion considers the importance of bringing a diverse cross-section of women and girls into our parks and designing spaces with their input.

The principles include suggestions for placement of facilities, paths and features that are easy to navigate and maximise visibility, ideas for bringing more women to the park through activities and events, and recommendations for ways to a sense of belonging and familiarity. The guidance also includes ten case studies from West Yorkshire, the UK and around the world and features ideas for ‘quick wins’ which can be achieved at low cost.

Since its launch, the guidance has impacted on policies, strategies and practices locally, nationally and internationally. Its recommendations for active bystander training have been followed up with sessions where park Friends, staff and volunteers groups attended; 100% stated in feedback that they are more likely to intervene when they see harassment in their local parks. We have talked to many audiences across the UK including an All-Party Parliamentary Group for Parks and Green Spaces. And our powerful behavioural change campaign, #JustDont, aims to empower men and boys to change society for the better.

It is essential that parks are made safer and welcoming for women and girls. Parks have so much to offer, including well-documented health and wellbeing benefits. We should all be able to enjoy them.

The research and guidance can be found here. The Just Don’t campaign and video can be found here.

Helen’s presentation at the APSE Parks Seminar 2024 can be downloaded here.