Wednesday 4 November 2026
Bradford Arts Centre, Bradford BD1
Hosted by:
Sponsored by:
Supported by:
Image credit: Sardaka CC 3.0
Access to safe and welcoming streets, spaces, amenities and services are the foundation of a full life. Women and girls shape their use of public transport and public spaces around safety, both actual and perceived. If we design public spaces and transport services to enable full participation from everybody, it enhances individual lives and, at the same time, creates significant benefits for society. This event will look at how we create safe and welcoming spaces for women and girls from all angles - physical, cultural and social.
Join us at Planning for Women & Girls to hear fresh and meaningful contributions on what needs to change, and how, so that public spaces are safe, and feel safe, for everybody.
Women in Mobility UK- industry survey
Women in Mobility's survey is seeking to better understand women's experiences participating in industry conferences, panels, webinars, and events, including what works well and what gets in the way. The survey should take approx 10 minutes to complete using this link
As women with lived experience of violence perpetrated by men, the Deputy Mayor for Policing and Crime, Alison Lowe, and I are committed leaders in campaigning for justice for women and girls and working to prevent harm before it happens.
As the first woman metro Mayor in the country with Police and Crime Commissioner powers, I am privileged to be in a position where I can influence not just the police service, but other services and businesses that can help to keep women and girls safe. This includes my responsibilities in transport, skills, housing, and culture, and working closely with the business community to ensure change happens.
Together we can make West Yorkshire a safe, just, and inclusive place for women and girls.
Tracy Brabin, Mayor of West Yorkshire
Why it matters
A national emergency, and a sector that can act on it
Government has described violence against women and girls as a national emergency and has pledged to halve it within a decade. Transport and public space are where much of that fear is lived, and where the sector holds real levers to respond.
70% plus of women in the UK have experienced sexual harassment in public spaces, rising to around 86% of women aged 18 to 24.
1 in 2 girls aged 11 to 21 report feeling unsafe on public transport, and many change their behaviour to manage risk.
Around 36% of leadership roles in UK transport are held by women, who remain under-represented in core operational functions.
Up to 20% potential long-run rise in GDP per capita if gender gaps in employment were closed.
Five themes, one whole-systems day
Keynotes, case studies, workshops and panels across five connected themes. What works for women and girls tends to be safer for everybody, so the day joins design, safety, inclusion, culture and power into a single route towards change.
Theme 1:
Safe by design
How the built environment and services can be planned so that public space and transport are safe by day and after dark, and feel that way.
Topics:
-
Gender perspective in vehicle and infrastructure design
-
The night-time economy and travelling safely after dark
-
Safe parking and interchanges
-
Lighting, wayfinding and sightlines
-
Trip-chaining and planning for non-commute journeys
-
Active travel and the gender gap in cycling and walking
-
Safe and welcoming public spaces
Theme 2:
Report, respond, protect
What happens when women report, whether it changes anything, and how to keep both passengers and frontline staff safe. Shaped with policing and transport enforcement partners.
Topics:
-
Reporting and enforcement, and what women experience when they come forward
-
Frontline transport staff safety
-
Transport policing and partnership working
-
Being a useful bystander
-
CCTV, data and monitoring, used well and used responsibly
Theme 3:
Nobody left behind
Safety and access are not experienced equally. This theme centres the women most often overlooked, and the lived experience behind the statistics.
Topics:
-
Intersectionality, and why one-size solutions fail
-
Community voices on keeping local women safe on the network
-
Rural and small-town women
-
Transport poverty and gender
-
Young people and other protected characteristics
-
In her shoes: lived experience and case studies
Theme 4:
Men, allies and culture
Lasting change needs men in the room and cultural shift across organisations, not only women describing the problem.
Topics:
-
Men addressing male violence, in their own words
-
Allyship in the workplace, and what it actually looks like
-
Awareness and behaviour-change campaigns
-
Mentoring and cultural change
Theme 5:
Careers, money and power
The levers that move the sector: who gets hired and promoted, how budgets are set, and how authorities spend.
Topics:
-
Recruiting, retaining and progressing women beyond entry level
-
Gender-responsive budgeting: counting women so women count
-
Procurement as a lever, using buying power to drive safety and inclusion
-
Visible leadership and more women on the podium
Programme
09:00
The Hall (2)
Registration: Tea & Coffee/Refreshments served in the exhibition area
09:30
The Theatre (G)
Morning Plenary
Session Chair: Sally Barber, Lead for Physical Activity Research, Born In Bradford
Welcome and introduction from:
Tracy Brabin, Mayor, West Yorkshire Combined Authority
Protecting the women and girls of West Yorkshire is one of the key commitments that The Mayor made when coming into power. She says: "As the first woman metro Mayor in the country with Police and Crime Commissioner powers, I am privileged to be in a position where I can influence not just the police service, but other services and businesses that can help to keep women and girls safe. This includes my responsibilities in transport, skills, housing, and culture, and working closely with the business community to ensure change happens."
Mayor Brabin will celebrate the work being done across West Yorkshire and the UK to challenge negative attitudes and behaviours, and to empower men and boys as allies, so driving real change in workplaces and across communities.
Presentation by Sophie Edmondson, Interim Director of Planning, Development and Strategy, Active Travel England
Followed by a panel / audience Q+A. The Mayor and Sophie will be joined by:
-
Lucy Musgrave OBE, Mayor's Design Advocate, Mayor of London
-
Susannah Walker, founder, In Her Place
-
Marina Milosev, Director of Urban Strategies and Innovation, Beyond the Red Line
-
Catherine Woodhead, Chief Executive, Living Streets
11:00
The Hall (2)
Morning break: Tea & Coffee/Refreshments served in the exhibition area
11:30
The Theatre (G)
Safe by design
Chair: Susannah Walker, founder, In Her Place
Safety in public space: Women, girls and gender diverse people
Kathryn Timmins, Principal Project Officer, Planning and Regeneration, Greater London Authority and Betty Owoo, Senior Design Officer, Design Unit, Greater London Authority
Safer parks for women and girls
Fran Pontin, Lecturer, School of Geography, University of Leeds
Gender and safety in areas of new development
Alison Bradshaw, West Area Manager, Spatial Planning, Transport for London
Getting Home Safely
Kelly Cary, Associate Director, AtkinsRealis
Weston Room (G)
Careers, power and money
Gender mainstreaming across decision making and budgeting
Laetitia Butler, Feminist Urbanism Project Officer, Glasgow City Council
Mentoring for success
Sarah Naylor, Director,
Dukes Bailiffs
Building teams that welcome, and celebrate, women and girls’ perspectives
Neil Taylor, Director, Integrated Transport Planning Advisory Group, ITP
Understanding women's experiences of representing the transport sector
Olga Anapryenka, Women in Mobility
Clocktower (4)
Report, respond, protect
Chair: Sandra Witzel,
co-founder, Women in Mobility
Reporting and police partnerships
Kate Green, Head of Transport Policing and Community Safety, Transport for Greater Manchester and Suzanne Downey, Chief Superintendent, Transport and Policing and Crime Command (TPACC), Greater Manchester Police
Tackling Violence & Intimidation Against Women and Girls on the transport network
Nia Mellor, Detective Chief Inspector, British Transport Police
EMBODY Be The Change: Tackling Violence & Intimidation Against Women and Girls on UK rail with Virtual Reality training
Owen Cotterell, Co-Founder & Creative Director, Juice Immersive
Can AI close the reporting gap on buses?
Jocelyn Elleby, Strategic Advocacy Lead, GS- SABR
Venue Lobby (G)
City centre cycle tour
Visit the award-winning Bradford City Centre Cycling and Walking Improvements Scheme to see how City of Bradford Metropolitan District Council is improving walking and cycling routes, parks and public spaces for women and girls.
Cycles will be provided by Beryl.
Sign-up sheets will be provided on the reception desk – first come, first served.
Limited to 12 participants.
Meet in the venue lobby 10 minutes before departure time.
13:00
The Hall (2)
Networking Lunch: Lunch served in the exhibition area
14:00
The Theatre (G)
Men, allyship and culture
Chair: Jennie Martin, Women in Mobility
Working with men -
a personal journey
Anjna Patel, former Chair, Board of Directors, British Parking Association
Men, allyship and culture: how TfL is making women's safety everyone's business
Helen Cansick, Head of Investment Planning for Safe and Healthy Streets, Transport for London
Facilitating useful conversations with boys and young men
Michael Conroy, Founder / Director, Men at Work
How can Allyship in transport planning and design support safe journeys for Women and Girls?
Katherine Henebry, Senior Transport Planner - Active Travel, Sweco UK and Dan Warburton, Operations Manager, Sweco UK
Weston Room (G)
Nobody left behind
Chair: Vicki Franks, Active Travel Officer, West Yorkshire Combined Authority
Designing for and with women and girls
Sonia Fayyaz, Community Engagement Manager, Active Bradford
Active Travel Social Prescribing Pilot Project - Travel Confidence Training with South Asian women
Jaspreet Kullar, Active Travel Social Prescribing Project Officer, City of Bradford Metropolitan District Council and Wafaa Nawaz, Founder & Chief Executive Officer, Bradford Community Alliance
Safety of women & girls: Bradford's innovative local approach
Noreen Akhtar, Assistant Director for Neighbourhoods, Communities and Regulatory Services, Bradford Council
Gender inclusive public space: Putting theory into practice
Lucy Musgrave, Founding Director, Publica
Clocktower (4)
Workshop:
Considering women and girls' safety in active travel scheme design
Led by Joss Winter, Project Lead, Women and Girls Safety, Active Travel England
The interactive workshop will explore key principles related to women and girls safety in the design, management and planning of active travel.
With a focus on design, discussion topics will include considerations such as wayfinding, crossing provision, visibility to create streets and places that consider women and girls' safety.
Participants will hear an update on Active Travel England's Women and Girls' Safety programme, including an update on guidance development.
This session is particularly relevant for local authority officers, transport planners, designers, and anyone involved in the development and delivery of active travel schemes
Venue Lobby (G)
City centre walking tour
Visit the award-winning Bradford City Centre Cycling and Walking Improvements Scheme to see how City of Bradford Metropolitan District Council is improving walking and cycling routes, parks and public spaces for women and girls.
Sign-up sheets will be provided on the reception desk – first come, first served.
Limited to 20 participants.
Meet in the venue lobby 10 minutes before departure time.
15:30
The Hall (2)
Afternoon break: Tea & Coffee/Refreshments served in the exhibition area
16:00
The Theatre (G)
Afternoon plenary: how to have the necessary conversations
Aggressive, abusive and disrespectful behaviour to women and girls, and that which aims to marginalise them, must be challenged. It’s common to hear many men – and women – say that women commit violence and abuse too, so why do we need to take action to support women and girls in public spaces, on transport and in society in general? This panel will take a deep dive into the conversations that need to be had - and that actions that need to be taken.
Panel discussion and audience Q+A, led by:
Karen Whybro, Women's Safety Consultant
Panellists include:
Sue Gorton-Davison, Director and specialist teacher, This Life Collective
Michael Conroy, Founder / Director, Men at Work
Lynne Elliot, CEO, White Ribbon UK
Nia Mellor, Detective Chief Inspector, British Transport Police
16:45
Conference Close
Speakers: a genuinely diverse and gender-balanced platform
Tracy Brabin
Mayor
West Yorkshire Combined Authority
Sue Gorton-Davison
Director and specialist teacher
This Life Collective
Michael Conroy
Founder / Director
Men at Work
Marina Milosev
Director of Urban Strategies and Innovation
Beyond the Red Line
Fran Pontin
Lecturer, School of Geography
University of Leeds
Karen Whybro
Women's Safety Consultant
Gender Equality Consultants
Wafaa Nawaz
Founder & Chief Executive Officer
Bradford Community Alliance
Owen
Cotterell
Co-Founder & Creative Director
Juice Immersive
Kelly Cary
Associate Director
AtkinsRealis
Jocelyn Elleby
Strategic Advocacy Lead, GS- SABR
GS- SABR
Lucy Musgrave OBE
Mayor's Design Advocate and Founding Director, Publica
Mayor of London
Kate Green
Head of Transport Policing and Community Safety
Transport for Greater Manchester
Lynne Elliot
CEO
White Ribbon UK
Sonia Fayyaz
Community Engagement Manager
Active Bradford
Laetitia Butler
Feminist Urbanism Project Officer
Glasgow City Council
Neil Taylor
Advisory Group Director
ITP by Haskoning
Jaspreet Kullar
Active Travel Social Prescribing Project Officer
City of Bradford Metropolitan District Council
Noreen Akhtar
Assistant Director for Neighbourhoods, Communities and Regulatory Services
Bradford Council
Catherine Woodhead
Chief Executive
Living Streets
Susannah Walker
Founder and Consultant
In Her Place
Suzanne Downey
Chief Superintendent, Transport and Policing and Crime Command (TPACC)
Greater Manchester Police
Nia Mellor
Detective Chief Inspector
British Transport Police
Kathryn Timmins
City and Place Unit
Greater London Authority
Anjna Patel MBE
Former Chair, Board of Directors, British Parking Association
Dukes Bailiffs
Alison Bradshaw
West Area Manager, Spatial Planning
Transport for London
Katherine Henebry
Senior Transport Planner - Active Travel
Sweco UK
Dan Warburton
Operations Manager
Sweco UK
Betty Owoo
Senior Design Officer, Design Unit
Greater London Authority
Who should attend:
-
Transport authorities and operators
-
Planners and urban designers
-
Police and community safety teams
-
Local and combined authority officers
-
Campaigners and community organisations
-
Academics and researchers
-
Anyone commissioning public space and transport
-
Leaders raising women's visibility in their teams
Sponsorship and Exhibition rates
Exhibitors include:
