An Australian city council is set to trial ‘female-only’ parking bays.
The 28 bays in the Perth public car park are located close to the entrance and exits and the areas include upgraded lighting and additional CCTV cameras, City of Perth chief executive Martin Mileham told news.com.au.
“Men won’t be fined if they park in the bays but the City encourages men to support this trial,” he said.
However, the spaces have already drawn criticism over their “unsafe” location and “sexist” marketing.
A CBD worker Briony Whitton told WA Today the pink parks do not address the drug users who access the nearby stairwells.
She said tradies are the early risers who get the best parks, which means she has to park on the fifth floor and walk through areas of the parking building with no security or night lighting.
“The car park is mostly unmanned during the day and there are kids skating up and down the floors, who know which floors to go on so no one will see them.”
“Anyone spending any time in that car park will know that nothing they’ve done here helps. Not to mention the inherent sexism of painting it pink.”
National Council of Women president Marion Ward told WA Today that she will stand by anything which makes women safer.
“Women are prone to be attacked in the quieter and darker places of the city and this could make women feel much safer,” she said.
The official trial begins next week.
