Too often we are willing to sidestep a topic of dire importance. The public safety of women and girls is one such topic. Cynthia Nikitin, who pariticpated in the 2011 UN Women Designing Safe Cities with Women and Girls Stakeholder Planning Meeting, outlined the problem, which many are simply unaware of,
For many women and girls around the world, just passing through a public space – a market, a crowded street or riding the bus – is cause for great anxiety: the threat of sexual harassment can be terrifying and have lingering psychological impacts and consequences. Unfortunately, patterns of sexual abuse in urban public spaces are often seen as an unavoidable part of urban life and generally speaking, not therefore recognized as a problem either by local governments, enforcement agencies, or the public.
While most public spaces in North American cities and those of the West in general – markets in particular – are usually where one is most likely to find police, an on site management presence, guards, and watchful neighbors, in the Global South and developing countries, public spaces are the most dangerous places to be for women and girls, and the least supervised as well.
Being considerate of these issues when redeveloping the space of a city can vastly improve the welfare of women and girls.
Streets, squares, and parks, the focus of our initial work at PPS, are often chaotic, poorly planned and maintained places (if they exist at all in disadvantaged and under-resourced communities). Once transformed, however, public spaces are anchors to safe, inclusive and thriving urban centers.
Moreover, an improved public environment can have a catalytic impact on a city: enhancing the delivery of basic social and infrastructural services, driving the creation of economic and cultural activity, expanding mobility options, and nurturing a cohesive, civil society based upon mutual respect between men and women. Finally, as a grassroots process, Placemaking provides a way to concretely engage people – especially women and youth – in planning and implementing pubic space improvements in their communities.
The author finishes near the end with a summary of her own takeaways,
What became clear to me over the 4 days of the conference was how important it was to and perhaps even easier it might be to make changes to the physical environment in order to influence behavioral patterns and minimize the fear factor of sexual violence that haunts women the world over.
If you have heard of any such project being enacted, we would love to hear about it! As always, the link below will direct you towards the full blog post.
