English councils are set to receive new guidance on making streets more secure after a survey revealed nearly nine out of 10 women feel unsafe walking at night.
Government agency Active Travel England (Ate) said the advice will stress the importance of well-designed street lighting and establishing walking routes alongside busy roads covered by CCTV.
Ate commissioned a poll of 2,125 UK adults, finding 88 per cent of women felt unsafe after dark.
It also found 71 per cent of female respondents changed their routes to avoid walking in darkness.
Inadequate lighting, poorly maintained routes, personal safety fears, and antisocial behaviour were identified as key issues by the survey.
Ate national commissioner Chris Boardman described the results of the survey as “appalling”.
The guidance will refer to interventions put in place abroad, such as in Vigo, Spain, where a scheme was introduced allowing women and girls to ask bus drivers to stop anywhere along the route at night, rather than just at established stops.
This reduces the distance they need to walk home.
Ate said a number of towns and cities across England have already taken steps to improve street safety for women and girls.
Measures include:
- 27 new CCTV cameras in locations where women reported feeling unsafe in Worksop, Nottinghamshire;
- A designated safe walking route with improved visibility to Milton Keynes railway station, Buckinghamshire;
- The introduction to Liverpool city centre of Halo Points, which are well-lit, highly visible devices with a direct link to the emergency services and CCTV.
English councils will receive the fresh guidance later this year, and be offered training sessions in the spring.
Mr Boardman, an Olympic champion cyclist, said it is “a terrible thing” that women and girls do not feel they have the same freedom to “simply walk in their neighbourhood” as men and boys.
He continued: “That almost nine out of 10 women say they feel unsafe walking after dark is an appalling finding we should be ashamed of.
“For too long, we have designed streets that don’t work for women and girls.
“We want to help councils remove the barriers that are stopping women and girls from choosing to walk and wheel – whether that’s by providing better lighting, surface crossings over underpasses, CCTV or simply by listening to and acting on lived experiences.”
The government has an ambition of halving violence against women and girls within a decade.
Local transport minister Lilian Greenwood said the results of the survey show “just how much work there is to be done”.
Home Office minister Jess Phillips said violence against women and girls is “a national emergency”.
Catherine Woodhead, chief executive of charity Living Streets, said ignoring women’s safety on streets leads to them missing out on “everything from education and exercise, to leisure and accessing work”.
– The survey was conducted by research company YouGov in February.
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