Teenage girls and public space/facilities : an update

I think it's more an issue with boys "taking over" spaces created for sports and leisure. The village I lived in created a skate park area on the recreation ground. The skate park became a no-go for girls and younger children because boys, particularly older ones, were hanging out there, smoking and drinking, and being rowdy and intimidating. The area soon became a problem with broken glass and stinking of piss.

I’m interested in what ‘girl’ spaces look like. I have two both sporty but they don’t play football or skate board. They do trampoline, roller skate, gymnastics, swim, cycle and did park run. The statistics around girls dropping sport once they turn 13are unbelievable something like only 9% still do active sport. This is reflected in my teen DDs friendship group despite some having active parents which I find odd & sad. It’s making it sociable and cool to do regardless of male/female is challenging. And the cost barrier. Good luck I hope you have some success.

There's outdoor gym equipment at the park but its built for men, so I can't use most of it. I dont fit the equipment and its too heavy.
I wrote to the council and explained the problem, and asked them to add a leg lift machine and they did - its for men built like rugby players and it does squats.

@makespaceforgirls, that is fascinating, thank you for sharing. I'd never even considered this before.

For the posters asking what 'girl's spaces' would look like, there are some case studies from Europe on the website which started, sensibly enough, by actually consulting with girls.

Saying 'but girls can use skate parks too' is failing to engage with the reality of how these types of facilities are used in practice.

Interested in this. I'd have mentioned things like access to clean public toilets, better lighting, CCTV (even just to reassure parents), provision of hosted sports classes / teams for girls as well, thinking of what use girls make of our park spaces. Would be interesting to know the breakdown of attendees at park based events like Parkrun, whether teenage girls are more likely to attend an organised event like that.

Great, my eldest is a pre-teen still but hope there will be provision for her when she grows.

Maybe smoother roller skating areas in the skateparks could be also a good addition

I'm struggling to see what 'teenage girl' provision looks like - could you provide some examples?

My 13 year old daughter is an active footballer so both MUGA's and football pitches delight her.

Locally we have tennis courts and skate parks too.

There's probably more of a social aspect to teenage girls not using facilities i.e. an off putting group of males already there rather than the facilities being male orientated.

I'm not against the campaign, I fully support getting teenage girls out there and more active...but struggling to see what physical environments would actually improve this.

What "equipment" was "for boys" ? other than sex segregated toilets I can't think of any park equipment that's gender specific. My dd plays football, golf, uses the outdoor gym and runs on the off road trail.

There is loads and loads of info at
makespaceforgirls.co.uk/research/

which outlines the case very well. It is a nuanced thing to consider and not so black and white as 'this is for boys' 'this is for girls'.

That's great - I remember that thread and I'm glad such good has come from it

We really need a pinned post on this board with all the grassroots campaign groups that are springing up!

I think this is a great idea but you need to give some thought as to what girls spaces would look like

When I was that age a karaoke machine and lights around a mirror would have done for singing / dancing but that’s not really very practical

I also wonder if there is something that shows girls are often very self conscious about playing sport, especially in public in front of boys. Would girls necessarily use netball hoops / hockey pitch even if given the opportunity?

Perhaps something more gender neutral like trampolining would do it - but would that get past health and safety

Good luck and great you stuck with it.

Can you link your previous thread? The front page of the website doesn't go into detail as to why some spaces are seen as 'for' boys. I seem to recall your thread had more info.

I see you have a 'research' section but I think to avoid people's instant reaction being as mine was it might be a good idea to make this a bit more prominent? Girls being pushed out by the increased presence of boys is an important point, I feel.

what would spaces for girls look like, if not skate parks, biking stuff, sports hoops? Surely this is just sports equipment which is non gendered?

That's brilliant. I think I remember your thread.