subscribe: Posts | Comments

Women’s safety and public space

2 comments

after Cologne, women in public spaces, Are women ever really safe?

“There’s always the possibility of keeping a certain distance of more than an arm’s length – that is to say to make sure yourself you don’t look to be too close to people who are not known to you, and to whom you don’t have a trusting relationship”.

This was the advice offered to women by the Mayor of Cologne, Henriette Reker, in the aftermath of the attacks which took place in the German city on New Year’s Eve, reportedly coordinated and carried out by a very large throng of up to one thousand men.

Reker’s comments are problematic in a number of ways, not least because they come across as extremely naïve and idealistic, as well as being completely inapplicable in the case of these attacks.

Most women, myself included, will read her statement in disbelief, wistfully thinking ‘if only it were that easy and simple!’

I, and many others I’m sure, would sacrifice a lot in order to be able to live in a society where harassment and assault were eliminated by staying an arm’s length away from strangers.

Sadly, the current status quo is far from this, and the large-scale attacks in Cologne lead me to ask where and when, if ever, are women safe nowadays?

Perhaps the most concerning aspect of the Cologne attacks is the fact that they took place in a large, open public space packed with people – circumstances which would usually be deemed pretty safe.

Everybody knows that regardless of age or gender, although young women are more at risk than others, it is unwise to walk alone at night, particularly in quiet, badly lit areas.

The events in Germany on New Year’s Eve are all the more shocking because they don’t meet the criteria which forms the basis of generic safety advice; the attacks did occur at night, but they were carried out among and in full view of the thousands of partygoers in the square at the time.

It should be acknowledged that the density of people, and apparent general chaos, may have enabled the perpetrators to rob, grope and assault these women more discreetly, for want of a better word, and made it more difficult for bystanders to realise what was going on and intervene, as well as causing groups to separate.

And although we have been told that the situation was also badly handled by police, it is nonetheless deeply worrying that attacks of this nature and scale could happen in a central public place on one of the busiest nights of the year.

In light of these events, the usual guidance, ‘safety in numbers’ and so on, seems rather futile, and Reker’s comments even more absurd – how can you stay an arm’s length away from strangers when you are in a space crammed with them?

Should we now not only avoid going anywhere alone, particularly at night, but also steer clear of areas populated by strangers, i.e. all public places?

Women are not safe on their own, nor it would seem are they when they are surrounded by people.

So where does this leave us?

For a lot of women, the answer is scared, despairing, and desperately searching for some sort of solution – one in which our safety is not contingent on the restriction of our movements.

As it stands, most ‘solutions’ seem to be giving in in one way or another.

Take women-only spaces, for example.

Mocked and deemed unnecessary by some, appealing to others, and a step that we shouldn’t have to resort to for many.

The view of the general public on such measures was made clear last summer, when Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn’s suggestion of women-only rail carriages as a means of increasing their safety and comfort in light of widespread sexual harassment and assaults on public transport was met with protest and outrage.

I agree that segregation in this day and age is absurd, and that we shouldn’t allow ourselves be backed into a corner, but right now, what is the alternative?

Perhaps it is not completely nonsensical to implement women-only spaces as a temporary measure while those in positions of power work out how to successfully deal with the problem.

I think many women would, albeit reluctantly, appreciate the choice, and for victims of attacks like those in Cologne, it may allow them to do things and go to places they would not otherwise feel able to.

Although on paper women living in the western world in 2016 appear to have a lot of freedoms, and of course we are very privileged compared to women in other parts of the world, the reality is that we are being stripped of our independence and our basic right to safety.

We have freedoms, but we cannot fully take advantage of them; our ever-reducing sense of security prevents us from travelling and living candidly in the way we deserve to.

It is not acceptable or fair that we live in a perpetual state of fear and anticipation, dictated by the long list of scenarios and places that we should avoid.

Nor is it right or just that the responsibility of preventing attacks like those in Cologne almost always falls to us, and if we fail and become victims of such attacks, then the blame also lies with us.

We simply cannot win.

It is clear however that effective action needs to be taken urgently, and perhaps a good place to start would be addressing those who pose the threat rather than those who are threatened.

  1. Nelly McMullin says:

    You’re so right , my girl!!

  2. 100% truth!!

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *