Campaigner says dark streets put women at risk

A woman who is campaigning for more streetlights in a city has said that walking alone in the dark is harder for women.

Megan Parker wants more lights in Southampton because she believes it could help prevent crime.

The 22-year-old started the Places We Fear campaign after she experienced sexual harassment walking through parts of the city that are unlit.

Southampton City Council said it is currently upgrading its 8,300 streets to LEDs to make a "safe and greener city".

To gather information on where people felt unsafe in the city, Megan, set up a form for people to fill out.

"I set it up as a QR code, put them on lampposts and posted it on Reddit and social media so people could scan it," she told the BBC.

"It was a load of different questions and then at the end it asked, what changes would you like to see?

"95% of my responses were more street lights, more CCTV, more visibility is what would make us feel safer."

Megan said walking alone through a park in the dark can be terrifying.

"You see it in the media all the time about violence against women and girls and gendered violence - it is happening in all these dark places," she said.

"You've got Sarah Everard, you've got countless names that come up in the news all the time."

She explained what led her to want to map out incidents of assault across the city in the campaign.

"The parks are used by school children and commuters not just people going home from a night out.

"I know that it is not just women who are worried about walking in dark public spaces.

"Men and people of colour may also feel vulnerable using them too, it is all about accessibility."

The get the campaign up and running Megan applied to the Southampton Young Placemakers scheme.

It is a youth programme designed to help young people get involved in improving their local communities.

"We are working on getting signposting put up in Southampton Common," she added.

"It will highlight where all the lit routes are in the park."

Southampton City Council said it has been working on the South Coast LED upgrade project.

"This will lead to greener, more sustainable lighting on roads, significant carbon savings through improved energy efficiency and improved visibility for pedestrians and drivers, helping to meet the council's City Plan missions of a safer and greener city," it said.

"Starting this April, over 8,366 lights will be upgraded to LEDs on behalf of the council over the next 12 months, reducing carbon dioxide emissions by 35%, equivalent to 286 tonnes of carbon dioxide (CO2) per year."