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CATALOGUE OF POSITIVE
ACTIONS European Charter for Women in the City 1995 |
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THEME D : Social safety
26. SYMBOLIC ACTION IN DORTUMUND Against an Underground Passage
FOPA Dortmund (Feministische Organisation von Planerinnen und Architektinnen) 3. Date and duration of the action: • March 8, 1994, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. 4. origin of the information Contact - correspondent address:FOPA Adlerstr. 81 D 44137 Dortmund tel: 49 (0)231 143329 fax: 49 (0)231 162174 5. File writer: Ursula Heiler (FOPA) DESCRIPTION • On March 8, 1994, on the day of the women's strike in Germany, women from the FOPA Dortmund organization of planners and architects, from an alternative traffic association and women construction workers organized an action against a pedestrian underpass in the city of Dortmund. They symbolically closed the underpass and installed a pedestrian crossing with the help of the police. The women wanted to draw the attention of women, politicians and pedestrians to this unsafe area and highlight a feminist view of mobility. The women collected signatures (about 250 in three hours' time, especially from elderly women) against the underpass, viewed as a symbol of male planning, and for pedestrian controlled traffic lights. The signatures were sent to the local authorities, who are presently discussing the issue.
27. CYCLING AND WALKING IN UNSAFE AREAS
Annie Hondeghemt, Leen Van Lindt (KUL)
DESCRIPTION • In the town of Roeselare, the local emancipation work group has been dealing with social safety for quite some time. Via surveys and statistics of the crime rate, this group has drawn up an inventory of unsafe areas in the town centre. As its members experienced difficulties in tackling this issue with the authorities, one evening they organised a bike ride : the route was made up of unsafe areas to ride through. In addition to this, a press conference was held and an amusing demonstration also took place, so that the authorities were to react. Many women were to among the participants, but also the mayor, several civil servants in charge, as well as the local press. The emphasis was on the amusing aspect of this demonstration : on the route, several cardboard objects had been placed so that people could visualise the scene. Wherever badly kept green areas were to be found, huge cardboard scissors could be seen; wherever there was little or no social supervision, cardboard dummies had been placed. This is how the safety issue had been tackled without creating an atmosphere of panic. By taking part in this evening bike ride, the participants could actually live the prevailing threat in certain places and also realise how certain situation can become dangerous. Severalpoliticians would not let their daughters walk alone through many areas. In the commune of Lummen, the local social safety work group organised an evening walk through unsafe areas in the commune. Once more, the group of participants was made up of members of the work group and also of politicians and civil servants. The route covered areas known for their poor lighting, too many unsuitable green areas, lack of supervision. The participants' reactions were quite positive. Since then, social safety has become a topic which is taken into account in various case-files.
28. SIMPLY SAFE OUTSIDE
Lilli Licka DESCRIPTION • The planning team had to develop measures for improvement in two different areas. In dealing with a particular area, the stage of the survey is essential, as women users contribute by defining the exact deficits of the area. Contact with the women was made through several means. The first step was public information on social safety in newspapers, on the radio and television in order to raise awareness. Public meetings were organized to inform women about the project and to get information from them. Women's group representatives were contacted and helped getting in touch with different age groups and ethnic communities. One of the most efficient means were officially announced public excursions with a big poster showing the map of the area. People could therefore take part on a short distance in their neighbourhood and show their everyday routes on the map. The experience helped to gain a lot of information.
29. A QUESTIONNAIRE FOR SOCIAL SAFETY
Annie Hondeghem, Leen Van Lindt.
DESCRIPTION • In Antwerp, the Emancipation Division developed a questionnaire for social safety. The issues were lighting and planting green areas. This questionnaire was distributed by means of a folder and also the women's journal. At a later stage, this initiative was integrated within an overall questionnaire for the population, social safety being a separate section of it. This questionnaire is being distributed on a wide scale and is gaining a large response from the general public. Complaints or remarks are entrusted to the services in charge. The City Council has agreed to come up quickly with an appropriate solution or an adequate explanation. In Herentals, the emancipation board, in collaboration with the emancipation secretary, took the initiative of creating a questionnaire for social safety. This questionnaire is regularly published in the town paper and can be handed in at public buildings (library, post office). The reactions are handed over to the services in charge which do whatever they can to respond. It has been quite a positive experience. In Lummen, a down-sized version of the questionnaire is regularly published in the municipal information paper. Reactions are mainly on problems regarding lighting and public facilities. However, the number of reactions in this rural commune is rather limited. In Roeselare, the emancipation work group created, together with a landscape architect, a questionnaire for social safety. This questionnaire was sent to all the inhabitants and is available at various agencies. The Town Council has agreed to take seriously into account the remarks and complaints of its population. In the town of Leuven, a prevention assistant was hired in May 1994 to launch and develop a project concerning the social safety complaint card. Social Safety: A questionnaire gives the population the possibility to express to the council the type of difficulties -with regard to social safety- experienced in public places. A safe social environment is an environment in which a person can move freely, i.e. without being threatened by or confronted with violence. This means that social safety depends very much on the implementation of town planning: lighting, planting green areas, the arrangement of the facilities,... Social Safety and Equal Opportunities: The initiative to promote the use of a questionnaire will often be taken by an emancipation board, an alderman or a civil servant in charge of equal opportunities. This is due to the fact that women experience this issue somewhat differently, as they form a more vulnerable group. However, social safety is an important matter for the entire population. It has an important effect on the freedom of movement of women, children, the elderly and men. If someone feels threatened in the street, he or she will refuse to go out at night. A Step by Step Procedure: A questionnaire has been launched and collected wide response. Here is a general survey of the various steps undertaken : 1) approval by the town council; 2) a co-ordinator is hired for the plan; 3) budgeting for the functioning; 4) design of the questionnaire; 5) distribution of the questionnaire; 6) determining the areas where the questionnaires are to be handed in; 7) starting up consultation between the services concerned; 8) gathering & processing, by the co-ordinator of the collected data; 9) sending the data on to the services in charge; 10) the service writes a report on the follow-up; 11) feedback for the population.
30. WOMEN'S SAFETY AUDIT GUIDE
DESCRIPTION • Architects, urban planners and the police force are usually men, and therefore often do not understand the problems of women. On the other hand, women know a lot about the environment that traditional experts don't know and how the design of it affects women's feeling of safety. Women are the experts for carrying out a safety audit. It's women's experience with spaces that counts. The guide explains very clearly and minutely how to assess the safety of a particular area, and how to bring about change. Detailed checklists for a precise assessment are included. A section of the guide deals with the assessment of policies, practices and services; another one concerns abuse in relationships. The City of Montréal has adapted this guide to its specific needs and published its own version in November 1993 under the title of "Guide d'enquête sur la sécurité des femmes en ville". Information: Mme Anne Michaud, Coodonnatrice, dossier Femmes et Ville Ville de Montréal, Service des loisirs, des parcs et du développement communautaire 74000, bd Saint-Michel - Montréal (Québec) H2A 2Z8 tel: (1-514) 872 6156
31. MORE SOCIAL SAFETY Some Positive Actions in Vienna
DESCRIPTION • The aim of the project was to give planners, politicians and inhabitants an idea about social safety in open spaces by simple and easily grasped examples for improvement. Another objective was to make the people involved in planning processes more aware of social safety and enable them to consider its principles and integrate safety into planning. Therefore, two different areas were chosen: a square in an older part of Vienna serving as a central meeting point and an important crossroads for public transport; a social housing project built in the 1980s. Thorough surveys and analyses showed that many 'fear zones' existed in both areas. They made women choose longer paths or even stay at home. Narrow footpaths, difficult orientation due to the lack of visibility were the main complaints. Improvements were developed to eliminate these fear zones. The measures were detailed and presented to the public in an exhibition and politicians took charge of implementing them. (report written in German)
32. A NEW DISTRICT Intervention of the "Women and City" Group
. DESCRIPTION • In 1991-92, a planning competition for the construction of an urban district of about 9,000 inhabitants took place in Freiburg. From the beginning, the 'Stadt und Frau' group (Women and City) was involved in it and helped to promote the competition through the equal opportunities department. The group successfully supported the winning project; as a result, two areas of the project were modified to improve safety: the outer buildings of the area were built along the road for easy safety supervision, and unsafe thoroughfares were reduced. Moreover, "Stadt und Frau' has developed a project for a part of the district, called 'Women Planning the Future - Housing, Work and Life in their Neighbourhood".
33. A LIVELY CITY IS A SAFE CITY
1993. 4. origin of the information Contact - - correspondent address: Birgit Pohlmann-Rohr FOPA e.V. Adlerstr. 81 D - 44137 Dortmund tel: (49-0) 231 14332 5. Rédacteur de la fiche / File writer: Ute Beik (FOPA). DESCRIPTION • In 1993, Ute Preis and Birgit Pohlmann-Rohr were commissioned by the Ministry of planning and transport and the Ministry of equal opportunities of the Land Nordrhein-Westfalen to draw up a series of recommendations for increased safety in public spaces under the title of "Belebte Stadt - Angstfreie Stadt" (A Lively City is a Safe City). The document shows safety criteria which can be applied to various areas, according to planning instruments such as master plans, construction plans, traffic development plans, etc. The guide stresses the practical aspects; in 1994, it was sent to the municipal planners and the equal opportunities department.
34. BUS AND TRAMWAY STOPS The Point of View of Women in Vienna
for the Department for the Promotion and Co-ordination of Women's Affairs of the City Council of Vienna 3. Daate and duration of the action: 1991, currently being published in German 4. origin of the information Contact - correspondent address: KoseLicka Rauchfangkehrergasse 11/1/2a A 1150 Wien tel & fax: (43-1) 812 76 82 5. Rédacteur de la fiche / File writer: Ursula Kose, Lilli Licka. DESCRIPTION • Thirty stops were examined. Both spatial and "social" locations were described. The study confirmed the results of another survey according to which women are the main users of public transport (see illustrations): 40% of women against 32.5% of men. The conclusions show very clearly that improvements have been carried out lately as to the quality of the stops (such as clear panelled waiting shelters) but that the surrounding areas are generally neglected, the priority being given to traffic conditions. To make people feel safe and comfortable at a bus or tram stop, however, other elements besides the functional preconditions have to be taken into account. The connection between built and functional structures of the environment and safety and comfort at the bus stop has to be considered. The stop must be seen as a public space where people rest/wait. There are several features. Some can be improved on or easily changed, but others are conceived in a long-term perspective. They therefore need special attention.
35. SOCIAL SAFETY AT TOWN PLANNING LEVEL LA SECURITE URBAINE AU NIVEAU DE LA PLANIFICATION MUNICIPALE
DESCRIPTION (English) • It goes without saying that construction safety as well as fire safety are considered whenever there are plans for a building. It is also just as obvious that whenever there are schemes at town planning level, it is good to check whether they are safe trafficwise. However, examining plans at social safety level is a matter which has not been raised until recently. A working group of experts developed 2 test lists on social safety at town planning level. Such test lists give an instrument which is to be used for examining plans systematically, in order to see whether those plans are socially safe or not. The aim is to obtain the most ideal conditions for the creation of socially safe situations. However, such a test list is not a universal remedy which will guarantee a safe environment. It is rather something which tries to give a survey of the various factors which can influence such matters. In order to take into account the social safety aspect when it comes to planning, designing and managing constructions, a certain number of criteria has been drawn up. These criteria are arranged according to the principle of a checklist. The idea is to read through the list of items and suggestions, when schemes are being developed and assessed.
36. SELF-DEFENSE CLASSES FOR WOMEN
DESCRIPTION (English) • We have all been confronted with the following situations at one time or another : feeling uneasy when having to walk through a dark alley or having to fetch a car at night in a remote parking lot. Many women and elderly people experience these threatening feelings every day. This feeling of insecurity keeps them from wanting to go out, thereby restraining their opportunities to take part in social life. Therefore, many women take precautions before going alone on the streets at night : they look for busy and well lit streets; they ignore strangers who hastle them; they wear appropriate clothing; they ride a car rather than a bike;... Owing to these women's experiences regarding subjective social insecurity, several emancipation councils took the initiative to organise, in their commune, self-defence classes for women. This has often occurred together with the commune's sports services or a sports club. On the one hand, such classes are meant for learning how to protect oneself by adopting a defensive attitude and also by acquiring physical self-defence techniques. On the other hand, mental resistance is also largely dealt with : women learn how to assess genuine threatening situations : they are taught verbal resistance, self-reassuring behaviour; and psychological resistance.
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