Women's Safety in Ruchill

As we continue to work with the community in Ruchill to explore possibilities for nature restoration and preservation and urban growing on the disused Golf Course, we've been thinking a lot about how people, particularly girls and women, move around the site and feel safe doing so. Building on the Make Space for Girls campaign, Ebany, Project Coordinator for Urban Agriculture, has been working with the Greening Ruchill project team on the Glasgow City Council to “design natural play areas, seating areas, swings, and paths so that they can be much more welcoming, attractive and well-used by women and girls; as well as be used by everyone else.” To achieve this, Ebany connected with Wise Women, who conduct collaborative research around sites in Glasgow to identify and raise awareness of safety issues.

We spoke with Wise Women and Alasdair Hamilton of Scottish Canals, who reflects on research Wise Women conducted into women's safety around the Stockingfield Bridge scheme, just a 20 minute walk east of the golf course.

Who Are Wise Women?

Wise Women was established in 1994 as the Women’s Safety Centre to “…. address women’s fears of crime and violence by taking positive action through self-defence and personal safety courses.”

The organisation has contributed not only to increasing individual women’s sense of safety and confidence, but also to strategic approaches to reduce violence against women in Glasgow.

Despite best efforts both nationally and locally, Scotland, as in other countries, continues to experience high levels of violence against women. Wise Women was established partly to give women the language to talk about their experience of violence against women. Women have spoken up and we now want to support partners to respond to women’s needs.

Wise Women is actively striving to support partners to improve public spaces to ensure women feel and are safer using them, and also to contribute to Glasgow City Council’s Equality Duty and the achievement of sustainable development goals.

What Do They Do?

Previous tours in Glasgow have highlighted that in order to avoid or mitigate fear and danger women often have to make surprising decisions when left to negotiate local areas on their own, e.g. one woman highlighted that while the canal was closed for 2 years during the development of Stockingfield Bridge, she had to walk around Saracen Street. This was an area she never walked in due to dangers she experienced or perceived on Saracen Street. She felt her only alternative was to walk on the dark canal area, which was quicker. This was not available during development.

Alasdair let us know that the driver for the Wise Women report was to understand any learning points from the bridge design and construction that could either be implemented during the works or could inform future projects.

Likewise, Wise Women hope to conduct a similar report on the Ruchill Golf Course, delivering their Safer Steps programme specifically for the Ruchill Golf Course development. This programme will provide a safe space for women to discuss their fears and experiences of the area before taking part in a tour of the Golf Course. After the tour, the women will highlight where some of the safety concerns are and provide potential solutions.

What's Hoped For In Ruchill?

From the perspective of Scottish Canals, there is an aspiration to enable waterborne visitors to access the site and that connection with the canal would be really welcomed. They are also keen to see a pottery museum and cafe as proposed by Make it Glasgow take shape as well as improved connectivity onto the Stockingfield site, bridge and canal towpath.

Due to the nature of the development of the Golf Course, Wise Women hope that this becomes a vibrant area that is open to all. Women and girls consistently talk about how they prefer social spaces, where groups can sit and talk. They would like to see a space that has an increased footfall, reducing the opportunity for perpetrators to exploit, and well-lit areas with clear views from the surrounding areas. Women consistently report that areas that are well maintained without fly tipping etc and the presence of rubbish bins, feels like a safer area. Public toilets are essential, and community venues are valued by women as safe spaces and opportunities to access information in a friendly and accessible manner.

How to Find Out More?

If you would like to keep up to date with our work in Ruchill, email [email protected] to receive direct comms. For more general updates about all of work, including our work in Ruchill, sign up to our newsletter.

Glasgow Community Food Network would like to thanks Wise Women and Scottish Canals for their time in co-writing this blog post.

Our work in Ruchill is delivered as part of our Food and Climate Action project which is delivered in partnership with 6 organisations in Glasgow and funded by The National Lottery Community Fund.

Photo descriptions and credits, from top to bottom:

1. A pond at Ruchill golf course taken during summer, with blue skies, wildflowers and tall grasses. Credit: Clem Sandison

2. 2 women in a public park at night time, wearing summer dresses. The light is red, giving the photo an overall red tone. 3. An aerial view of Stockingfield Bridge which has a forked path, linking 3 parts of land over a forked canal. Credit: www.newcivilengineer.com