A community committed to sexual violence prevention

Across the UK, over 27,000 parks and green spaces provide us with much-needed access to nature in urban areas. They’re a vital part of our communities and a space for people to thrive in – physically, mentally and socially. But whilst parks are open to all, not everyone feels safe using them.

National statistics show that women are three times less likely than men to feel safe in parks, and they feel less safe in parks than on public transport and busy streets. This means that more than half of the population don’t enjoy equal access to the benefits of public spaces. Creating safety is something that we can all contribute to, and Dr Anna Barker of the University of Leeds is paving the way with her work.

Dr Anna Barker is an Associate Professor in Criminal Justice and Criminology at the University of Leeds, and is an alum of the University, having completed her Masters and PhD at Leeds.

Anna’s research focuses on women and girls’ perceptions and experiences of safety in public spaces, including parks. This involves considering the threat of sexual violence and experiences of harassment that women and girls face. Her research shows that alongside changes to how we design and manage public spaces, women and girls also want to see fundamental change to attitudes and behaviours that uphold and normalise sexual violence.

Anna ultimately aims to use her research to help create spaces that are welcoming, safe and inclusive for women and girls – and she’s already having an impact here in West Yorkshire and nationally.

In collaboration with West Yorkshire Combined Authority, Make Space for Girls, and Keep Britain Tidy, Anna has helped develop guidance to make parks and green spaces safer for women and girls. The guidance (PDF) outlines ten principles under three themes: 'Eyes on the park' focuses on creating a sense of security through presence of others, especially women and girls; 'Awareness' centres on designing parks with features that enhance your ability to see and be seen; and 'Inclusion' emphasises making women and girls feel like parks are spaces for them.

This guidance is being used in local parks in West Yorkshire and has been adopted as supplementary guidance by the Green Flag Award, used in the UK and around the world as the benchmark for managing parks and green spaces.

Anna’s work doesn’t stop there. Her current focus is working in partnership with the Suzy Lamplugh Trust and Keep Britain Tidy to train park staff and volunteers across the UK. The aim is to create a community of active bystanders who feel confident in their knowledge and ability to intervene safely when witnessing harassment in these spaces.

Closer to home, Anna also supports the development of the Feminist Research into Violence and Abuse (FRIVA), a new university network for scholars of violence against women and girls, led by Dr Sam Lewis. 

Anna is optimistic that her ongoing work can help to design and manage parks in a way that can make a difference for women, and create a culture where harassment is not normalised.