Women's parking space

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Women's parking space in an Italian rest area
Women's parking space in an Austrian garage

Women's parking spaces are specially designated and identified parking spaces in parking garages and parking lots to be used by women. They are usually near exits to increase the safety of women, to facilitate the act of parking, or to facilitate walking to shopping or employment destinations.

Germany

In contrast to disabled parking spaces, women's parking spaces are not designated in the German road traffic code (Straßenverkehrsordnung) and are therefore only allowed in private parking areas. However, as landlord, the operator of the parking facility can insist that these spaces be used only by women as long as it is not claimed that the parking facility falls under the rules of the federal road traffic code.

In some German states, women's parking spaces are provided for under garage regulations. For example, the garage regulations of North Rhine-Westphalia and Schleswig-Holstein state that women's parking places:

  • must be marked as such
  • should be near the facility entrance
  • must be monitored by a security guard or by video surveillance
  • must be near an installed burglar alarm

In the garage regulation of Baden-Württemberg, at least of 10% of all spaces in large garages must be reserved for women.[1] The garage regulation of Brandenburg stipulates that at least 30% of spaces must be for women.[2]

The German Federal Anti-Discrimination Agency stated on their website that the establishment of women's parking spaces does not violate the General Equal Treatment Act (Allgemeine Gleichbehandlungsgesetz), because women are more likely than men to be victims of sexual abuse.[3]

According to the Hessian State Office of Criminal Investigation, the furnishing of women's parking spaces is an ideal means of raising women's feelings of safety. However, according to federal criminal statistics published by the German police, molestation and attacks on women occur no more often in parking garages than in other places. In Hesse, in 2003, only one of 1000 crimes in parking garages was sexual in nature.[4]

Woman parking on men's parking space in Triberg

A small town in southern Germany, Triberg introduced the antonym, the globally first men's parking spaces in 2012 and caused a major media hype. The two Triberg slots are based on a technical peculiarity, since the slots in question are much more difficult to maneuver into than normal spaces.[5]

Background

According to Ruth Becker's research about risk zones in town planning, men's and women's risk assessment are neither in line with actual dangers and for each gender, the actual zone of risk is different. Women have more to fear in personal surroundings and at home while men are object (and dominantly subject) of attack in the outside world.[6] Becker refers to Elisabeth Wilson's book Sphinx in the City[7] and assumes that women overestimate the dangers of urban surroundings. The focus on opening public spaces and areas to women (at least in Europe) works to the contrary. Herbert Glasauer doubts a positive effect of women's parking lots and sees them as a sort of backlash, perpetuating a view of the "damsel in distress" perspective instead of addressing actual violence.[6][8]

China

In the Chinese province of Hebei, women's parking spaces have been established in shopping centers. These are wider and are clearly marked in different colors. This was made to ease parking for women, according to the representative of one shopping center.[9] In the Wonder Mall in Hebei, one of three underground lots is designated for women. The spaces are between 3.2 and 3.3 meters wide, so that even when car doors are fully open, they do not touch neighboring cars, a measure intended to reduce the number of collisions.[10][11] The Global Times daily newspaper, citing insurance company data, states that female drivers cause twice as many collisions in parking lots than in other places.[12]

Korea

In 2009, the city government of Seoul painted 4,929 parking spaces pink so that women do not have to walk as far to their destination and make the city more conducive to wearing high heels.[13]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Garage Regulations of Baden-Württemberg
  2. ↑ Brandenburg Garage and Parking Regulation (Brandenburgische Garagen- und Stellplatzverordnung- BbgGStV) from October 12, 1994, last changed March 23, 2005 , § 5 (2)
  3. ↑ FAQ of the German Federal Anti-Discrimination Agency (archived)
  4. ↑ Report on the safety of parking garages in police criminal statistics.
  5. ↑ Focus Online: Deutschlands erste Männerparkplätze: Ist das sexistisch? Hier rangieren nur echte Kerle, abgerufen am 15. Juli 2012.
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 Ruth Becker Zeitschrift für Frauenforschung und Geschlechterstudien, Jg. 18, H. 4, 2000, p. 49-65 (5 Tab.) ISSN: 0946-5596 Standort: USB Köln(38)-FHM XG6137
  7. ↑ The sphinx in the City:Urban Life, the Control of Disorder, and Women Elizabeth Wilson, University of California Press, 1992
  8. ↑ Herbert Glasauer Gewalt ist nicht immer und überall, Georg Glasze, Robert Pütz, Manfred Rolfes: Diskurs, Stadt, Kriminalität: Städtische(Un-)Sicherheiten aus der Perspektive von Stadtforschung und kritischer Kriminalgeographie. transcript Verlag, 2005. S.206ff
  9. ↑ Le Monde (fr) article about women's parking spaces in China
  10. ↑ Wall Street Journal: "Parking for Women Only"
  11. ↑ USA Today: "Chinese mall to open special parking lot just for women"
  12. ↑ Global Times: Women only parking
  13. ↑ Will High-Heel-Friendly Streets Keep Seoul's Women Happy?, Time, 2009
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike; additional terms may apply for the media files.