Women friendly Leeds blog

The Leeds Women’s Safety Survey was carried out in May 2021 and 1,371 women of all ages, and from all parts of the city, took part. The findings provide a powerful insight into their experience of feeling and being safe in the city. They show that despite heightened awareness, successive government strategies and decades of campaigning, day to day abuse and harassment of women remains so common that it is all too often accepted as ‘normal’.

A shocking 97% of respondents to our survey said that simply ‘being a woman’ affects their personal safety in Leeds. And 73% of the women who identified as Black/Black British, Asian/Asian British or mixed heritage thought that their personal safety was also affected by their race or culture.

The three main priorities that emerged from this survey were as follows:

1. Tackling the attitudes and behaviour which underpin violence against women and girls.
2. Making city environments safer
3. Increasing reporting and improving responses

The responsibility for addressing these lies with a wide range of organisations and individuals. All need to play a role but none can achieve change on their own. We need a whole societal approach to raise the profile and awareness of the issue of safety for women and girls. We need to give all citizens the tools to take action and give a clear message that Leeds takes a zero-tolerance approach.

View the report below

Executive Summary

Full Report