UCL Study on Women’s Safety in Finsbury Park 2026

Key Points

• UCL researchers from Anthropology and Psychiatry partnered with Islington Council to study women’s experiences of safety and insecurity in Islington, focusing on Finsbury Park.
• The interdisciplinary team is led by Professor Sahra Gibbon (Anthropology) with support from Dr James Kirkbride (Psychiatry), Rosie Mathers and Alice‑McAlpine Riddell (Anthropology).
• The work is funded initially by a UCL Social Science Plus grant and a UCL Grand Challenges Pump Priming grant.
• Researchers combined population‑level census data with ethnographic methods: walk‑along interviews, emotional map‑making, and Photovoice with local women.
• Thirty women who live and work in and around Finsbury Park took part in in‑depth, participant‑centred fieldwork; a smaller subset produced photographs and narratives.
• The study linked women’s everyday experiences of urban violence and insecurity to mental health and wellbeing outcomes.
• Findings and methods were shared through knowledge exchange activities with Islington Council teams and local stakeholders, prompting further collaboration, including a 2025 survey organised with Islington Faiths Forum.
• The work responds to heightened public and policy attention to violence against women and girls following high‑profile cases such as the murder of Sarah Everard in 2021.

Finsbury Park (North London News) July 23, 2026 — An interdisciplinary team of University College London researchers working with Islington Council has produced a multi‑method investigation into women’s experiences of safety and insecurity in the borough, concentrating on Finsbury Park, a location identified by local agencies as a Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG) hotspot. The study combines population‑level data analysis with intensive ethnographic fieldwork — including walk‑along interviews, emotional map‑making, and participant‑led Photovoice — to document how everyday encounters in public spaces shape feelings of safety and mental wellbeing for women who live and work in and around the park.

Who led the research and which disciplines were involved?

As reported by Professor Sahra Gibbon of UCL’s Anthropology department, the research was led by an interdisciplinary team drawing on Anthropology and Psychiatry.

Professor Gibbon led the Anthropology contribution, with psychiatry support from Dr James Kirkbride. The team also included anthropologists Rosie Mathers and Alice‑McAlpine Riddell, who were central to the ethnographic design and community engagement aspects of the project.

How was the project funded and what prompted the work?

The project began with funding from a collaborative UCL Social Science Plus grant and was later supported by a UCL Grand Challenges of Mental Health and Wellbeing Pump Priming grant, according to UCL project notes.

Researchers tell the record that the work responds to a wider policy and public focus on women’s safety after high‑profile incidents such as the 2021 murder of Sarah Everard, which catalysed public debate and policy action around violence against women and girls in public spaces.

What methods did the researchers use to capture women’s lived experiences?

The team combined quantitative and qualitative methods. At the population level they drew on census and other aggregated data to situate local patterns, while on the ground they used multi‑method ethnographic techniques to capture individual experiences:

• Walk‑along interviews, in which researchers accompany participants through neighbourhood routes while discussing safety concerns in real time.
• Emotional map‑making exercises where participants mapped feelings of safety and insecurity across local streets and public spaces.
• Photovoice with a subset of participants, enabling women to document their experiences through participant‑produced photography and accompanying narratives.

Who participated in the fieldwork and how were they selected?

Thirty women who live and work in and around Finsbury Park participated in the detailed ethnographic elements.

The research materials indicate participants were recruited to reflect a range of everyday experiences in the area; a smaller subgroup of these women took part in Photovoice.

The project description highlights the participatory and co‑produced nature of the fieldwork, emphasising that women’s own accounts shaped analysis and dissemination.

What did the research reveal about the relationship between urban violence and women’s mental health?

The research links everyday experiences of harassment, intimidation and fear in public places to adverse effects on mental wellbeing.

By integrating psychiatry expertise with ethnographic material, the team explored how repeated exposure to threats, fear of assault and restrictions on movement can accumulate into longer‑term mental health consequences.

The combined methods enabled researchers to trace both immediate emotional responses during walk‑alongs and broader population patterns that suggest certain locales and built environments can intensify feelings of vulnerability.

How did the research engage local stakeholders and community groups?

The team ran a number of knowledge exchange activities and shared findings with Islington Council departments and community teams.

That engagement included collaboration with Roz Miller of Islington Faiths Forum, who subsequently invited the UCL team to carry out a broader survey of women’s safety in the area in 2025.

Project briefings and workshops aimed to ensure local services, community organisations and policy teams could use evidence from the study to inform interventions.

What are the strengths of the study’s approach?

By combining census‑level analysis with in‑depth ethnography, the project offers a layered understanding of safety that connects structural context to lived experience.

The walk‑along interviews and emotional maps capture real‑time reactions to physical environments, while Photovoice centres participant agency by allowing women to select photographic subjects and narrate their meanings.

The involvement of a psychiatry specialist strengthens the link between reported experiences and potential mental health implications.

What limitations or caveats did the researchers note?

As reported in the project documentation, the methods prioritise depth over breadth: the intensive ethnographic sample of thirty women provides rich, contextualised insight but is not designed to be statistically representative of all women in Islington.

The Photovoice subset is smaller still. The team therefore treats its qualitative findings as complementary to population data rather than conclusive evidence of prevalence.

How have local agencies responded to the findings so far?

Islington Council and partner organisations engaged with the research through knowledge‑sharing events. The council’s co‑operation and the invitation from Islington Faiths Forum to run a 2025 survey are practical outcomes noted by the team; these follow‑up activities indicate local interest in translating research insights into community‑level listening and policy planning.

Specific policy changes were not announced in the project summary, though council teams were identified as active participants in discussions about possible interventions.

Explore More Islington Council News

Islington Council £390m Home Upgrade Plan 2026

Islington Pension Fund Members Back Divestment Proposals Islington 2026

How does this research fit into broader debates on public safety policy?

The study contributes to an expanding policy and research agenda that links public safety with gendered experiences of urban space.

It aligns with national concerns about VAWG and with calls for evidence‑based interventions that address both environmental design and social policing, while foregrounding the mental health ramifications of living with persistent insecurity in public places.

Background of the particular development

The research emerges from a Memorandum of Understanding between UCL and Islington Council that created a formal partnership for applied social research.

Following public and policy attention to violence against women and girls — intensified by the widely reported murder of Sarah Everard in 2021 and subsequent national debates — local authorities and universities increasingly sought collaborative research that could guide practical interventions.

The UCL team secured initial funding via a Social Science Plus award and later a UCL Grand Challenges Pump Priming grant focused on Mental Health and Wellbeing.

These grants enabled the design of a multi‑method project combining demographic analysis with participatory ethnography, rooted in the specific urban geography of Finsbury Park, which local stakeholders had identified as an area of concern for VAWG.

The project’s methods — including walk‑along interviews and Photovoice — follow an established participatory research tradition that seeks to centre participant narratives while linking micro‑level experiences to macro‑level patterns.

Prediction: how this development can affect residents, local agencies and policy audiences

• For local residents, particularly women who live and work in Finsbury Park: the study’s detailed documentation of everyday insecurity may validate lived experiences and help amplify community voices in calls for safer public spaces. Participatory outputs such as emotional maps and Photovoice images can be directly used in community organising, awareness campaigns and service design.
• For Islington Council and local agencies: the research provides evidence to inform targeted interventions — for example, environmental design changes, lighting improvements, or re‑routing of footpaths — and supports the case for investment in community safety measures and mental health services. The council’s engagement suggests the findings could shape future consultation or pilot programmes.
• For policymakers and funders: by linking qualitative accounts to population‑level indicators and mental health expertise, the study offers a model for cross‑disciplinary evidence that can underpin policy responses beyond Islington, indicating how localised, participatory research can be scaled or adapted in other boroughs.
• For service providers and community organisations: the project’s methods and outputs can guide practice in outreach and support, signalling where resources may be needed to address the cumulative mental health effects of persistent public insecurity.
• For research and academic audiences: the study demonstrates the value of combining psychiatric perspectives with anthropological methods, potentially encouraging further interdisciplinary projects that investigate the mental health impacts of urban violence.