Training park staff and volunteers to increase women’s safety in the UK’s parks and green spaces

The UK’s 27,000 parks provide essential green spaces for exercise, socialising, relaxation, and active travel routes away from busy roads. However, 1 in 6 women feel unsafe in parks during daylight hours, a ratio three times higher than men (Office for National Statistics, 2022), and women who have experienced harassment are more likely to be fearful (ONS, 2022). Consequently, women often limit park visits, avoid certain times or going alone, and adapt their behaviour for safety, thus missing out on the well-documented health benefits of parks.

In collaboration with the Suzy Lamplugh Trust and Keep Britain Tidy, this initiative trains park staff and volunteers across Britain to safely intervene in harassment situations, drawing from harassment scenarios that women identified in research led by Dr. Barker. The training equips participants to recognise and respond to potential risks, positively influencing outcomes.

The project will also develop park managers’ understanding of gender-sensitive park design and management through engagement with the ‘Safer Parks: Improving Access for Women and Girls’ guidance, which forms part of the Green Flag Award quality standard for parks that stems from research led by Dr Barker. Under the ‘Eyes on the Park’ theme, active bystander training is recommended for park staff and volunteers to safely address inappropriate behaviour, aligning with women's preference in the research findings to avoid challenging harassment directly.

The project will host workshops with approximately 500 park managers in Scotland, Wales, the North-East, the North-West, the Midlands, and London.

Associated research project website links

https://futureofparks.leeds.ac.uk/safer-parks/

Fostering safer parks for women and girls in West Yorkshire and beyond through multi-agency collaboration, knowledge exchange and the co-design of research-informed guidance

Safer Parks for Women and Girls

Utilising open data to enhance park safety for women and girls in Bradford

Impact

This project aims to implement training to cultivate the design and management of safer parks and empower a community of active bystanders across the UK who work in or volunteer for parks and green spaces. Before and after intervention surveys will be administered to evaluate change.

Publications and outputs

What Makes a Park Feel Safe or Unsafe? The views of women, girls and professionals in West Yorkshire - White Rose Research Online

Safer Parks: Improving access for women and girls - White Rose Research Online