The Non-Negotiables: Safety
Among all our non-negotiable themes from the Women-Centric Design toolkit, safety consistently emerges as a top priority. Despite its fundamental importance, safety is frequently an afterthought in design, which disproportionately affects marginalised groups, including women.
Examples of overlooking safety exist everywhere. Ride sharing apps were initially rolled out without safety features. Soon after the launch of the Metaverse, a groping problem was reported. Cars are more unsafe for women because they do not take women’s bodies into account. A study in Uganda showed that online harassment led women politicians to disengage on social media harming their chances of winning elections.
"Harm isn’t just something you experience physically, it’s also something you feel in your heart. So you withdraw from public spaces, whether online or offline, because you don’t feel safe in them. The world misses out on creativity, businesses, relationships, and citizenship,” says Hera Hussain, found of Chayn, a platform to support survivors of abuse. Other practitioners have described safety as a discrimination issue, a health issue, and a rights issue.
Unsafe spaces increase anxiety and discomfort limiting women's participation, engagement, and access to resources. Conversely, safe spaces foster trust, generosity, reciprocity and well-being. Yet, safety is so often considered reactively.
What would you say if I asked you today: What would make women feel physically and psychologically safe to engage with the product, service or program you are designing at the moment?
This prompt could guide us to include safety related questions in our research discussion guides; it could proactively help us think about designing the research itself in a safer way & allow for safety to take a more central place in the entire project.
Putting into practice
Build physical and psychological safety proactively rather than reactively. This is our design consideration for safety. Straightforward and obvious, right? But putting it into practice can be hard. Here are a few tips & resources of what that might look like:
Set Safety-First Precedents: "We have a Code of Conduct prominently displayed on our website and included in every event registration. It’s reiterated in all reminder emails and at the start of our programs. We make it clear what behaviors are unacceptable, how to report issues, and the actions we'll take," says Women Talk Design founder Danielle Barnes.
Ease of Reporting Incidents: "Initially, our app didn’t consider the harassment our female doctors might face. We found that patients with fake identities sent inappropriate content. Responding quickly, we implemented firewalls and a robust cybersecurity system. We also added a simple button for doctors to flag any inappropriate patient behavior," explains Sara Saeed Khurram, founder of Sehat Kahani.
Create a Moment of Reflection: The ReThink App combats online hate by prompting users to reconsider before posting hurtful messages. If potentially harmful content is detected, it asks the author if they truly wish to proceed with posting.
Design “Exits” for Physical and Psychological Relief: When implementing their gender mainstreaming policy, Vienna discovered that girls often felt uncomfortable in playgrounds due to feeling trapped in spaces dominated by boys. Their solution was to widen and multiply the number of exits, enhancing both physical and psychological comfort. This concept extends online as well; many services designed for survivors of harassment include a ‘quick escape’ button for those who might be monitored by an abusive spouse, partner, or family member.
Resources to learn more:
Our library with many resources on safety
Round-up from our event on safety
Interested in having us host a workshop or training for your team? Learn more here and contact us.