- Campaign group Our Bodies Our Streets has unveiled a public art installation in collaboration with the University of Sheffield
- The installation is based at the Ponderosa and aims to help raise awareness of women’s safety in public spaces
- A wooden structure to be lit up at night, the installation features cut out poems and an engraved Experience Map
Funded by the University of Sheffield’s Department of Landscape Architecture and based at the Ponderosa, the installation is part of a campaign to help make public spaces feel safer.
The installation is made up of a hexagonal wooden structure, laser cut with poems from women in Sheffield based on their experiences of street harassment. It also features an engraving of the campaigners’ Experience Map, a map of locations in the city where victims have experienced catcalling and street harassment.
At the unveiling event which took place on Thursday 22 July, attendees heard from Our Bodies Our Streets campaigners, and a live poetry reading from Katie Seaborne, one of the contributors to the installation.
Emma Beaumont, Our Bodies Our Streets campaigner and student at the University of Sheffield’s Department of Landscape Architecture, said: “We should all be able to enjoy the city’s public spaces without fear of being harassed. Now more than ever, we understand how important being in green spaces is to our emotional and physical wellbeing. Sheffield is the ‘outdoor city’ and takes pride in its many wonderful green spaces - but we’ve got to make sure that all its residents can access and spend time in these.
“Unfortunately we know that women and girls are the most likely to experience street harassment, and this is an intersectional issue with women of colour and members of the LGBTQ+ community facing additional fears. Our campaign focuses on promoting interventions to actively make spaces feel safer, which might include increasing visibility using specific tones or types of lighting, or using uplighting instead of floodlights.
“The beauty of public art is that it can send such a powerful message to so many people. We’re delighted to have this piece installed at such a prominent location in the city, and hope that it helps spread the message of how important it is that the women of Sheffield feel safe outdoors.”
Dr Anna Jorgensen, Head of the Department of Landscape Architecture at the University of Sheffield said: “Public art can fulfill many different functions, it can be commemorative, inspiring, thought provoking and challenging. The Our Bodies Our Streets installation absolutely achieves what it sets out to do, which is to get people to think about safety in public spaces - whether it chimes with those who have had similar experiences, or challenges people to think differently.
“The installation itself takes up physical space and asserts its right to be there. It’s a tangible representation of how we want women to be able to feel in public spaces.”
We’re delighted to be able to support this project, which has shown how brilliantly our students can be inspired to take their knowledge, research and inspiration into the community to help improve the world we live in
Dr Anna Jorgensen
Head of the Department of Landscape Architecture, University of Sheffield
Councillor Alison Teal, Executive Member for Parks, Leisure and Wellbeing at Sheffield City Council said: "We are supportive of initiatives that help to improve women’s safety, and the new art installation in Ponderosa Park is a reminder and powerful symbol of this very serious issue that affects women every day.
"Our Bodies Our Streets campaigners impressed us with their knowledge and passion and have encouraged us to think about this issue more creatively. Last week as part of a partnership bid with the Police and Crime Commissioner, South Yorkshire Police and with the three other South Yorkshire Local Authorities, Rotherham, Barnsley and Doncaster, we have applied for further funding from the government's Safer Streets Fund, with lighting at Ponderosa Park included as a proposal within the bid. If we are successful this will allow us to assess whether the lighting is effective in improving community safety and might be something we could consider in other parks across the city.
“We want everyone to feel safe to enjoy our lovely parks and green spaces and to feel safe on the streets too. No one ought to fear threats and intimidation at any time of day or night and we are working to help Sheffield residents feel confident about their safety when they are out and about.”
Our Bodies Our Streets is a local campaign founded by students in Sheffield, which aims to tackle the issue of catcalling and street harassment. The campaign focuses on ensuring all the city’s residents have the confidence to use its public spaces without fear, and promotes implementing interventions such as better lighting and better visibility throughout the city. The campaign also focuses on wider societal education which challenges the everyday culture of harassment rooted in misogyny, ableism and racism.
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