The impact of planning on the safety of women and girls

This briefing is relevant to the Westminster Hall Debate on the impact of planning on women’s safety in rural areas which is scheduled for 24 March 2026.

Planners, campaigners, and parliamentarians have called for the planning system to better recognise gendered safety needs.

The government’s Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG) Strategy (2025), which commits to halving VAWG within a decade, and identifies planning and design as “critical tools” for improving safety. However, the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF), which sets out the government’s aims for the planning system, does not refer explicitly to the safety of women and girls. Some MPs have described this as a contradiction between national planning policy and the government’s VAWG goals.

The Angiolini Inquiry (2025), following the murder of Sarah Everard, highlighted how public spaces have historically been designed around men’s needs and stressed the importance of planning guidance that directly addresses preventing sexually motivated crimes. The inquiry emphasised measures such as better lighting, CCTV, increased footfall, and visible policing.

The VAWG advocates a ‘whole society’ approach, and the planning system can help realise this by shaping how people interact with the built environment. This briefing outlines the opportunity for National Planning Policy (NPPF) to address current inequalities and establish a strategic, design-led approach to integrating the safety of women and girls into plan-making and decision-making.

Existing tools can also be used. Local authorities may conduct Equality Impact Assessments (EqIAs) to inform strategic planning. These aim to ensure planning decisions consider protected characteristics, such as sex, although EqIAs are not compulsory. Examples demonstrate how gender-sensitive planning can enhance safety and accessibility.

Recent research has called for ‘gender mainstreaming’ in planning, arguing that inclusive places should move beyond generic principles and explicitly consider the lived experiences of women and girls.