Women and girls' safety hub | Active Travel England

Designing streets and places for women and girls

Active Travel England (ATE) launched its Women and Girls’ Safety Programme in March 2026. More resources will be added to this page as the programme continues.

Documents and resources published by ATE on this hub relate to how to design streets and places for women and girls consider gender in the planning, design, delivery and management of active travel.

Active travel and gender

Gender affects how people experience and use the built environment. Understanding this and embedding insights into masterplanning, design, guidance and local policy can help create more equitable places and enable more people to actively choose to walk, wheel or cycle.

The programme is helping ATE understand the barriers women and girls face when walking, wheeling and cycling, and how ATE can support local authorities and delivery partners to design, deliver and manage streets and places that better reflect their needs.

This ambition is outlined in the agency’s delivery plan Worth Every Step. It responds to objectives set out in the government’s third cycling and walking investment strategy (CWIS3) and supports the government’s mission to halve violence against women and girls within the next decade.

The resources on this hub are a starting point. They introduce key principles, share best practice and signpost to external resources, while recognising that further guidance and support will be needed as the sector builds confidence and capability. Over the coming months, we will continue to develop this hub with further resources, technical design guidance and a support offer to help embed consideration of women and girls’ safety across active travel planning, design, delivery, maintenance and evaluation.

We are continuing to engage with stakeholders across government, local authorities and delivery partners to understand what support is needed. If you have examples, feedback or questions about this work, please get in touch with ATE at contact@activetravelengland.gov.uk.

Women and girls' safety introductory guidance

An introduction to considering active travel through the lens of gender. Developed by Active Travel England with research and development by In Her Place.

View guidance

Community consultation and engagement guidance

This document explains how authorities can include community engagement in the project development process for transport schemes involving active travel.

View guidance

Computed-generated image showing public space which features a pedestrianised area containing swings facing each other, a range of seating with people sitting, a bus stop with lighting and live time information, a signed changing places facility, wayfinding, outdoor seating outside a case. There is a road with a segregated cycle lane and a woman cycling a cargo bike. There is low level planting and a range of lighting. There are school children walking in uniform.

Image of a place that has been designed well for women and girls. It includes a pedestrian area with features that can improve the perception of safety, including a mix of lighting, different uses, seating options and clear sightlines.

"How we design our streets shapes how people live their lives. If a route doesn’t feel safe, accessible or practical, people won’t use it. For too many women and girls that’s still the reality."

Chris Boardman CBE, National Active Travel Commissioner

Webinars

A group of women walk along a pavement in an urban area.

Considerations for women and girls in active travel design and guidance

Spotlight on women’s safety

Case studies

Further case studies are available to read in the women and girls' safety introductory guidance.

Glasgow – gender mainstreaming

A group of women in active clothing pose next to a billboard on a pavement that reads 'No place for it'.

GM Moving – Right to the Streets

A road passing under a bridge. There are double yellow lines by the kerb all along the road. The pavement on each side of the road is bordered by stone walls.

Edinburgh – auditing safety to inform design

Further resources

There are a range of other ATE and wider resources to support work on women and girls' safety. These include:

The London Legacy Development Corporation – Creating Places That Work for Women and Girls handbook
The Safer Parks Consortium (UK) – Safer Parks Guidance
Atkins – Getting Home Safely
The City of Edinburgh Council – Street Design - Women’s Safety
Active Travel England – A best practice guide to community consultation and engagement
Active Travel England – Planning for active places
Active Travel England – Scheme design and review tools
Mayor of London – Safety in Public Space for Women
Leah Gerber – Toolkit for Gender Inclusive Mobility Planning
Greater Manchester Moving Right to the Streets Toolkit
City of Vienna Gender Mainstreaming handbook
Safety Audit Tools:
- We Made That – Women’s Safety Audits
- UN Habitat – Women’s Safety Audits: What Works and Where
- The City of Edinburgh Council – Women’s Safety Audit Proforma
Guidance on Equality Act and Public Sector Equality Duty
Town and Country Planning Association Guidance on EqIAs and planning
Women’s Budget Group – Gender Budgeting Resources
Women in Transport
Women in Planning
Arup / University of Liverpool – Cities Alive: Designing Cities that Work for Women
UN Women – Handbook on gender mainstreaming for gender equality results