By the age of 12 my friends and I were all too aware of the ways in which existing as a girl in the city put us at risk. Whether it’s the shock of being groped for the first time, the shame that follows being stalked after having "been out far too late for such young girls,” the embarrassment of having your newly developed breasts stared at by strangers, or learning what “‘kerb crawling” is as your friend tells you to walk faster and pretend not to notice.
There are multiple and constant threats that tell girls the city is not a place in which they belong. I, and most young women across the world, have been let down by a system that does not prioritise or truly understand our needs.
Cities must support the needs of girls and women
We already know the ways in which this is a social problem. We know that in many cities it’s unlikely that bystanders will intervene when they see a woman, or even a young girl, being harassed and that the policing system means violence against girls and women often goes unreported and unprosecuted. But I argue that it is also a problem of a city’s physical infrastructure and how it is designed.
Women and girls need to plan with the city and not be planned for.
It’s the un-lit streets and overcrowded trains and buses that allow assaults to go unnoticed, the unsafe and inappropriate toilet provision and the public transport that provides no space for prams or pushchairs. I have spent many years researching the ways in which our cities could be designed to support the needs of women as well as men and, by extension, a diversity of body types.
Transport planning provides a clear example of how cities’ physical infrastructure is inherently gendered. Most urban transport systems are designed to optimise flow into the city in the morning and out of the city in the evenings. We see this in how most urban metros are designed with radial rather than orbital routes.
The assumption is that the system should be designed for people who are accessing the paid, daytime labour market. Therefore, those who are accessing night time work, are engaged in the informal labour market, are at school or college, or have caring responsibilities (which may involve many local, multi-stop encumbered journeys) are at best an afterthought in the design practice of most cities.
City safety risks for girls go beyond infrastructure
Plan International’s Free to Be research is important as it reveals key tensions that exist between the city as both a place of opportunity and liberation for girls and women, as well as the ways in which it puts them at risk. The research illustrates that the hurdles which need to be overcome to make cities safer are significant and go beyond design and infrastructure.
However they are in no way insurmountable: we are at a moment in history when these concerns are beginning to be taken seriously. There are opportunities to address the challenges faced by girls and women in cities through the wider inclusion of their voices and ideas and by broadening the disciplines involved in urban design and planning.
Women and girls need to plan with the city and not be planned for.
As the digital revolution takes hold, the possibilities for harassment and stalking multiply. We have seen this in the development of the (now closed) app Girls Around Me which collected social media data including location and photos, without the explicit consent of the women and girls involved, allowing men to track and proposition them. This is a clear example of smart-city enabled stalking and harassment, developed by a tech sector that is predominantly male.
Women are uniting against sexual violence
However, these same technologies are also allowing female voices to be heard and be taken seriously for the first time. The #metoo movement for example, fuelled online, has united women’s voices across the world and has helped to create a momentum around action against sexual violence. When we translate this movement to the urban environment and initiatives like the Free to Be mapping tool, we give girls and young women a new and powerful voice so they can begin to use this data to create real change in the ways in which we design the built environment.
When girls and women are excluded from public spaces they are excluded from the opportunities the city has to offer.
In many ways the city represents a great opportunity for girls’ and women’s liberation. The wealth of opportunity that attracts millions of people to cities every week has the possibility to provide them with education and training, financial freedom and a strong network of social ties. However, if key safety and accessibility requirements are ignored during the design process we are at risk of perpetuating violence against women and girls, and restricting their opportunities.
When girls and women are excluded from public spaces they are excluded from the opportunities the city has to offer. This is perhaps especially true during adolescence, a time of exploration and growing independence, but, whatever their age, girls and women need to be heard, they must feel safe and, above all, “Free to Be.”
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