Safer Spaces to Move campaign aims to create a safer environment for women's activities

A new Safer Spaces To Move campaign has been launched to help fitness and leisure facilities continue to create safer spaces for women and girls to be active.

The campaign is led by Sport England's This Girl Can initiative- launched in 2015 with a ground-breaking campaign to celebrate a realistic vision of women and exercise in England and to tackle the gender activity gap - and is in partnership with Women's Aid, ukactive and CIMPSA.

The Safer Spaces to Move project provides resources, training and guidance for the sector to reduce some of the barriers women and girls face in taking part in physical activity and create spaces that are inclusive and enjoyable for all. It is designed to help women and girls to feel safe and more confident while being active in gyms, fitness and leisure facilities.

Resources on the Safer Spaces to Move hub include training for leisure centre and gym staff in responding to instances of sexual harassment and intimidation. This Girl Can’s 2023 survey with ukactive found that 42% of women said they had experienced at least one form of sexual harassment or intimidation, such as inappropriate comments, staring or encroachment of personal space while in a gym or leisure facility. This figure almost doubled for those aged 16 to 24, increasing to 83%.

This Girl Can exists so that all women feel they have the opportunity to be active in ways that they love. Our research continues to show that more can be done to protect women in all active spaces. Everyone deserves to feel safe and respected when exercising. Harassment, whether in gyms, leisure centres or elsewhere, is unacceptable. Today’s launch enables us to empower gyms, leisure centres and other facilities with the knowledge and tools they need to identify harassment and respond decisively, creating safer spaces for all women to be active.

Claire Edwards, This Girl Can Head of Campaign Activation

Gyms and leisure centres have an important role to play in supporting more women and girls to be active, with 11.5 million people over the age of 16 being members of a health and fitness club, according to the UK Health & Fitness Market Report 2025.  And This Girl Can's  Active Lives Adult Survey 2023-24 showed that fitness activities are growing in popularity for women and girls aged 16 and over, with 7.6 million having taken part at least twice in the previous 28 days.

As more women turn to fitness, This Girl Can sas that they recognise the need to create environments where all women feel safe, respected and able to take part confidently.