Visiting parks is an integral part of everyday life, reflecting the vital social, health and recreational role parks play in towns and cities. Parks have numerous benefits for health and wellbeing yet concerns about safety can constrain women and girls’ use and experience of them.
In October 2021, West Yorkshire Combined Authority, working with the five West Yorkshire district community safety partnerships and Third Sector partners, was awarded Home Office ‘Safer Streets’ funding to support the safety of women and girls in West Yorkshire’s parks, including research led by Dr Anna Barker and Professor George Holmes at the University of Leeds on women and girls’ perceptions of safety.
What is our research about?
Our research used Q methodology to explore the views of women and girls in West Yorkshire towards safety in parks, specifically what makes parks feel safe or unsafe.
What did our research find?
This research report and these posters summarise women, girls and professionals‘ views on safety in parks. We also produced an addendum to the main report on girls’ views on park play spaces and multi-use games areas.
We found that women and girls perceive safety in parks differently. Women’s views and girls’ views each clustered into three distinct viewpoints. Across these viewpoints, there were areas of consensus and agreement about what shapes perceptions of safety.
Read the full article here.
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