backyards with bolt: ep. 4
In this fourth episode of “Backyards with Bolt,” Dr. Annalijn Conklin of the University of British Columbia (UBC) and Inspector Colleen Yee of the Vancouver Police Department discuss existing policies for women's safety.
When asked what policies and practices exist to ensure women’s safety, Inspector Yee responded that the Vancouver Police Department had a women’s lookout team and workshops that are offered to the community free of charge. These workshops are taught by policewomen, and they are primarily focused on concepts of personal safety. You can find more information on upcoming events at the Vancouver Police Department website on the right-hand side halfway down the page. Unfortunately, events have been limited due to COVID-19, but hopefully, more will be added in the future. Women aged 16 and up are welcome to enter.
The city of Vancouver has a mission that has been in the works since 2018, and it is scheduled until 2028. It’s called “Vancouver: A City for All Women” and it’s the women’s equity strategy taking action to increase women’s safety and affordable housing. Some emerging themes include applying an intersectional lens to the city’s strategy, addressing safety including violence against women, accessible quality daycare, safe and affordable housing, and female leadership roles in the workplace. Their goal by 2025 is for a sense of safety in women to increase by 10%, and their strategies include providing education, awareness, partnership, collaboration, policies, and data. They are partnering with the United Nations’ initiative called “Safe Cities and Safe Public Places” on annual public campaigns to raise awareness on violence against women and update the women’s advisory committee.
Other support services the city of Vancouver has are Battered Women’s Support Services, Ending Violence Association of BC, BC Housing: Women’s Safe Home Program, YWCA, Victims’ Services Program, ISIS of BC, and Mosaic.
From a campus perspective, Dr. Conklin adds that there is an emergency number you can call on regular towers even without your cell phone. The campus police will be readily available and will even provide a shuttle to bring you to safety or if you have a disability. She notes that in some places, bus services will run free midnight buses and let you get off in between official bus stops so women don’t need to walk alone for an excessively long time in the dark. There are also various programs available specifically for Indigenous women.
When asked to what degree socioeconomic status relates to one’s feeling of safety and security, Dr. Conklin answered that those who live in poor housing that lacks in city services will also lack in social cohesion. This results in heightened crime, which perpetuates feelings of insecurity. She advocates for all neighbourhoods to have a minimum level of resources. Urban design and city decisions to where they allocate resources play into that. The more resources one neighbourhood has, the more they get more, and it becomes a vicious cycle. She also notes the importance of green spaces in creating a sense of community and laments the less materially advantaged neighbourhoods that lack them. That limits the ability of people from that neighbourhood to get together and create that sense of cohesion.
In regards to the correlation between one’s socioeconomic status and their feeling of safety and security, Inspector Yee looks at it in a strictly property aspect, including homes, cars, affluence, and access to security systems. The greater those things are, the greater the perception of safety is. When it comes to the environment, the more tightly-knit it is, the more cohesive it is. Therefore, the socioeconomic status does not play into it as much in accordance to her experience in the Vancouver Police Department. It’s a matter of the people living there taking ownership of their space. Even when it comes to the individual, socioeconomic status doesn’t contribute all that much to a woman’s sense of safety. A woman living on the west side of Vancouver has the same sense of insecurity as one on the east when it comes to their perceivability to take care of themselves and what the threats are. The threats of walking alone in a dark street, a violent domestic partner, not knowing what to do when someone is following them or breaking into their house is all the same, which Inspector Yee finds ironic. From a humanistic, primal point of view, socioeconomic status does not seem to be as relevant in her experience.
BOLT Safety encourages everyone who may need help to reach out to locally available support services or even a friend. Stay tuned for Episode 5!
You can access the resources mentioned in this post under the 'Safe Hubs' category on The Hub (see the image below).
If you, or someone you know, is in immediate danger, please call your local emergency services (9-1-1), or learn about other options (like shelters and crisis lines) in the Safe Hubs category of this platform.
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