To identify safe and unsafe areas in a city or community.

This exercise was designed as part of the Safe Cities Urban Book process. It should be undertaken by those who have completed the safety walk, including community members and local government authorities and should be facilitated by a trained community volunteer.

Steps

1. Organise a group of men, women and local government authorities/ administrators (including the police and those responsible for creating safe spaces for community members). If possible host this meeting in a public space (town hall or community park).
2. Explain the objective of the exercise, ie to identify areas that are safe and unsafe for women in the community. 
3. On a large flipchart (you may have to glue together 4 charts) write down the name of the community at the top. 
4. Make an outline map of the community. 
5. Ask participants to identify major geographical landmarks (streams, rivers, mountains, lakes, etc.) 
6. Ask participants to identify bridges, roads and streets (use symbol key to draw these) 
7. Ask participants to draw various modes of transportation (buses, cars, taxis, trishaws, trains, etc.) 
8. Now ask participants to identify public services/social economic infrastructure in their township (examples: school, market, factory, clinics, police station, township authority building, restaurants/beer shops, movie halls, parks) 
9. Community members discuss issues of safety (here participants from the safety walk exercise can share their experiences and report card) 
10. Community members jointly mark safe, unsafe, and semi-safe areas on the map using the traffic light tool.

Resources

• Making Cities and Urban Spaces Safe for Women and Girls: Safety Audit Participatory Toolkit. Developed for ActionAid International by Social Development Direct (SDD), January 2013.