It’s part of the NSW Government’s Safer Cities: Her Way Program, which aims to increase the perception of safety for all women and girls by improving their access to public spaces, streets and open spaces, as well as offer an opportunity to have their say in how local places are designed and managed to enable them to move freely and alone in their community.
Cumberland Council will host a series of community engagement sessions early this year to understand where women and girls feel unsafe and co-design interventions in public spaces and transport hubs.
Mayor Lisa Lake welcomed the funding and said everyone deserved to feel safe in their neighbourhood.
“Women sometimes experience public spaces differently to men and will often change their behaviour to protect themselves in public, but we don’t want the women in Cumberland to feel unsafe while living or working in our community,” she said.
The council has already begun assessing and reviewing locations of concern for women which includes public spaces, amenity blocks and streets around train stations, bus stops, carparks and alleyways.
