Are You Afraid of the Dark T.O? is a temporary public outdoor installation for young women and girls that will use unique seating arrangements and LED lighting to improve perceptions of safety at night and encourage after-dark use. By the end of 2022, we hope to translate a series of meaningful engagement opportunities with women and girls into an installation located in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA).

The COVID-19 pandemic taught the world many things, including how crucial our social connections are to our overall health and well-being. Throughout the pandemic, outdoor public spaces like parks, beaches and public squares became popular places to gather, offering enough space to practice physical distancing. 

A survey conducted last year by Park People on the impacts of COVID-19 on 32 Canadian cities found that more than half surveyed had seen increased interest in having more ‘“unstructured spaces to just hang out” during the pandemic. The GTA is fortunate enough to have many public spaces to do just that. However, not everyone feels safe and welcome in these spaces. Ensuring everyone has access to these spaces is crucial given a growing need for more inclusive cities. 

Historically, women and girls have not had much say in the design of the public realm; as a result, many outdoor public spaces do not have elements they value or need to feel safe. Like many Canadians, young women long for spaces to hang out, free of violence and harassment. That is why providing a temporary installation for women and girls to connect and create a support network is vital, especially in these uncertain times.

Society shows women and girls that their best protection against violence and harassment at night is to avoid being out in public altogether. Doing such, however, rarely prevents men from committing these acts in the first place. Rather than telling women and girls to stay inside and cover up, what if we allowed their collective lived experiences to inform public space design?