Many don’t feel safe on Vancouver’s Granville Street on weekend nights: Good Night Out

Nearly 90 per cent of people recently surveyed by a team that patrols Vancouver’s Granville Street on weekend nights say they feel unsafe there.

The survey was done by a sexual violence prevention non-profit group called Good Night Out.

The group says it has a team that walks in the area from midnight to 4 a.m. on Friday and Saturday nights to help keep the street safer.

Survey respondents reported feeling unsafe due to people in the area being drunk, along with seeing or being the victim of violence, gendered, racial and homophobic harassments.

Respondents said they also felt unsafe both inside and outside the businesses on the street.

“We had another person report that several of their friends have been the victims of sexual violence in the alleys behind the venues, and we’ve also had several reports of people being followed, or just cat-calls, or spoken to really inappropriately in ways that make them feel unsafe and uncomfortable,” Katie Tough with the group explained.

Over the last two months, Vancouver police recorded 177 instances of “offence against a person,” in the downtown core area.

Tough says survey respondents also suggested preventatives, like improving lighting outside businesses, mandatory sexual violence training for businesses, and creating spaces for people to recover if they are too drunk to call a cab.

Tough adds that people can also help protect each other by being aware of their surroundings and lending a hand.

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“You can distract a perpetrator, just break up the tension, or give someone who might be the subject of harassment an opportunity to leave the space,” she said.

Jane Talbot, the interim president and CEO of Downtown Vancouver Business Improvement Association (DVBIA), says more lighting should be placed on the street.

“We completely agree that lighting should be increased, not just on Granville Street in the entertainment district, but actually throughout the city of Vancouver. It’s something that the Business Improvement Association partnership is working on and advocating for,” Talbot said.

The DVBIA says making Granville Street safer is important, as they try to revamp and develop the area.

“Vacant storefronts, filling those businesses, and really just increasing foot traffic downtown, increasing business development downtown,” Talbot said.

The Vancouver Police Department says it often sends extra foot patrol officers to Granville Street on weekend nights to help curb violent and criminal behaviour.

But Good Night Out says it will continue to speak with the city and business owners about bringing in more safety measures.

With files from Emily Marsten