Women in Urban Public Spaces: Lived Experiences through a Safety Audit Approach

This study focusses on women’s safety and their access to urban public spaces, particularly the public spaces of Delhi, India. The focus of the study is the New Delhi district. The participants chosen were exclusively women from varied backgrounds in terms of the nature of work that they did/their occupation, socio –economic grouping and age. This study employs women’s safety audit as a participatory tool. Before conducting the audit, 10 categories of locations were decided upon, for the reason that they constitute parts of the city’s public space that women use relatively more actively and are therefore more likely to be seen in.
These locations are – University Areas, Hospitals, Open Spaces – Parks, for instance, Tourist Spots, Schools, Residential Areas, Markets, Offices/Workspaces/Commercial Complexes, Places of Worship and Industrial areas.
For the purpose of conducting the safety audit, the following three tools were used –
a. Physical Checklist - prepared in order to gauge how accessible and safe select locations are in terms of their -
i) Physical Characteristics – such as those of ‘Lighting, Signage, Visibility, Isolation, Escape Routes and Maintenance’;
ii) Usage of Spaces – who uses them and how; and how the same affects the level of comfort/safety that women experience in the concerned space;
iii) ‘Social Policing’, or the presence of people around (‘eyes on the street’), at different times during the day.
b. Pilot Study - In order to check the feasibility of the checklist, a pilot study was conducted in parts of Dwarka, on different days and at different times. Undertaking the said activity helped us become familiar with how to go about using the checklist, while also highlighting areas that required modification in order to make the current study more reflective of the ground reality. Parama Mitra’s physical checklist served as a primary reference for the same.
c. Street Survey cum Personal Interview – conducted for learning perceptions of women on the street, with regard to how safe they feel while walking by, using the space and being there on a regular basis.
The structured questionnaire method has been used for the said purpose. Based on the type and function of location being studied, questions in the questionnaire were modified to account for the differences being reflected across space. These were then distributed to women randomly and their responses were recorded. The data collected has been analysed thematically as well as quantitatively. The findings of the study varied for different locations on account of their mobility in the city, experiences of harassment/crime against women, precautions taken, access to technology and communication, awareness regarding safety generating mechanism and safety scores.