Women’s Safety: Walking, Wheeling, Cycling and Running

Anna Dixon Excerpts

Tuesday 27th January 2026 Westminster Hall

[Anna Dixon (Shipley) (Lab)]

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Ms Jardine. I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Lowestoft (Jess Asato) not only on securing the debate but on her fantastic opening speech, which really set the scene.

Violence against women and girls, including sexual harassment and assault, affects millions of women across the UK. It affects what we say, what we wear and what we do. It affects how we live our everyday lives and—as we have heard from many hon. Members in the debate—whether and where we walk, cycle and run. In what I think was a national survey, 20% of women said they would never go walking at night. Local research undertaken by the West Yorkshire combined authority and the University of Leeds produced similarly stark findings. In a survey of users of Myrtle Park in Bingley, in my constituency, they found that 48% of respondents would not feel safe at night.

According to the Office for National Statistics, over 15% of women and girls in Britain feel “very or fairly” unsafe in parks during the day. It is a scandal that women feel unsafe while walking, wheeling, cycling or running. As we have heard, it is also harmful to our health and wellbeing. Increasing active travel by 50% in England would result in 1.8 million fewer GP visits and 4 million fewer sick days, so it is vital that we provide safe opportunities for women and girls to participate in active travel.

The Mayor of West Yorkshire, Tracy Brabin, has led the way on this issue, by not only publishing her safety of women and girls strategy but going on to commission and produce specific guidance called “Safer Parks”. The guidance sets out in detail how to address the inequity of access to parks, promoting the need for them to be designed in a way that makes women and girls feel more secure. I have been briefed on the research, and interestingly the most obvious things—such as lighting the path through the park—do not always result in people feeling safer, because they are in the spotlight and fear that attackers are hiding in the shadows. It is really important that we do the research and get the design guidance right. We must also address the different barriers that exist for different groups, and generally increase the number of people using the parks—that is something that makes us feel safer. The guidance was trialled in Bradford last year, and will hopefully inform planning of how we improve safety in parks for women and girls across West Yorkshire and beyond.

Like the West Yorkshire combined authority, Bradford council is treating the issue with the seriousness it deserves. I recently met the council to discuss the safety concerns of women who visit Myrtle Park. I will continue to engage with the council, the Friends of Myrtle Park—a fantastic community group—and the local councillor, Susan Fricker, who has been a really strong advocate on this issue.

I have also been pleased with some of the initiatives by West Yorkshire police. The Jog On campaign is dedicated to tackling the harassment faced by female runners and joggers. It seeks to raise awareness of inappropriate behaviour, provide education—including through active bystander training—and take enforcement action against individuals who persist in targeting runners with unwanted behaviours such as catcalling, horn-pipping or sexualised comments. At my request, Jog On recently attended the parkruns in both Myrtle Park and Roberts Park in Saltaire, in my constituency, encouraging and advising women who enjoy parkrun, but who may want to go out and run at other times of the day and week.

Women and girls must feel confident to get out and about on their bikes. They must also feel safe in our parks and green spaces and along our canals and greenways —I am campaigning for the Wharfedale Greenway in my constituency, and I will highlight that it must be designed with the safety of women and girls in mind, following the excellent points made by my hon. Friend the Member for Edinburgh South West (Dr Arthur) about Edinburgh. I hope the Minister will encourage the sharing of these positive initiatives from West Yorkshire and Bradford and, with colleagues, ensure that local authorities have the funding and guidance they need in order to secure the safety of women and girls in all our public spaces.