Revealed: Geelong’s least safe locations for women and gender diverse people

Parts of Geelong’s CBD and locations throughout the region have been listed in a survey of where women and gender diverse people feel the most unsafe.

Women and gender diverse people have said they feel unsafe in parts of Geelong’s CBD and many key suburbs.

They have flagged safety concerns about major Geelong public spaces including the mall, Limeburners Point and the Moorabool St bus stop.

At least 17 locations in Geelong’s CBD have been marked as unsafe on a new interactive map.

North Geelong also recorded a high number of unsafe locations, with women raising concerns about poorly lit streets.

Several Ocean Grove locations were rated as very safe, with women saying they would be happy to go there at any time of day.

Key concerns were raised about Geelong’s notorious Little Malop St mall with one person saying they felt intimidated in the area.

“I’ve seen men expose themselves and masturbating in the mall area,” they wrote.

“It’s also an area where people congregate and intimidate people who walk past (cat calls, etc).”

A woman in her 20s said she felt unsafe in the mall due to anti-social behaviour.

Another woman, in her 40s, said she had been “verbally harassed and sexually propositioned by drunk/drug affected men” in the area.

A woman in her 30s claimed to feel unsafe on Ryrie St because she had been heckled by drug affected men, while others said they felt unsafe at hoon-hotspot Limeburners Point.

The map was released on Thursday as part of a new study that allowed Victorian women to plot the locations and streets where they feel most unsafe.

The crowdsourced survey, by Monash University’s XYX Lab and digital consultancy CrowdSpot, received more than 6000 public submissions from women and gender-diverse in just a three-month period between April and July 2021.

Key findings from the study show that 92 per cent of all pins placed in street locations were deemed unsafe.

Women’s Health and Wellbeing Barwon South West chief executive Emma Mahony urged local governments to use the feedback to design safer public spaces.

“This is actually a really powerful tool for planning and decision making at a local government level,” Ms Mahony said.

But, she said while design was important there must be greater focus on education to stop the root causes of gendered violence.

“We really know that the causes of violence is really gender inequality … it’s about inequality between women and men,” Ms Mahony said.

The new Your Ground report has provided a detailed map of streets were women feel unsafe and provided insights into how to make public spaces safer and more inclusive for women and gender-diverse people.

City of Greater Geelong director of community life Robyn Stevens said the study was an “empowering exercise” for women and gender diverse people.

“We will continue working in conjunction with Victoria Police to improve public safety for women and non-binary

people,” Ms Stevens.

“It’s simply unacceptable that one in three women have experienced at least one incident of violence in their lifetime.”

Geelong Women’s Union Network co-convener Adele Welsh said the organisation welcomed any approach that increase community safety.

But, she said the majority of violence toward women happened behind closed doors.

Geelong police Superintendent Peter Ward urged residents to report safety concerns to police.

“Community safety is at the forefront of our minds and police are continuously monitoring key entertainment precincts and other locations in Geelong CBD to prevent opportunistic crime,” he said.

Originally published as Revealed: Geelong’s least safe locations for women and gender diverse people