In Spring, in Edmonton, Women in Cities International announced the 12 winners of the 2004 Women’s Safety Awards.  There were submissions from several Canadian cities, including Montreal, with a project by the Petite Patrie Women's and Safety Committee, manda ted by Écho des femmes de la Petite Patrie. This project, carried out in cooperation with photographer Fanie St-Michel and entitled Urban Consciousness, won the Public Space Safety Award.    
Over the last few years, an increasing number of women have felt threatened while walking at night in various Montreal neighbourhoods. The Petite Patrie Women's and Safety Committee believes that such episodes could be avoided if neighbourhoods were made safer for women. Similarly, photographer Fanie St-Michel realized that it is just plain dangerous for a female photographer to shoot alone at night in certain neighbourhoods. Ms. St-Michel therefore contacted the Petite Patrie Women's and Safety Committee to explore the idea of combining their efforts to pursue common interests.

Urban Consciousness reveals how Montreal's women are concerned about safety in various public urban spaces. It also promotes socially engaged art by presenting their images in documentary format. Urban Consciousness highlights the nocturnal appearance of the city through its shadows and unsafe places in order to bring about change.

 

This project's main goal was to inform the public and raise awareness on the basic precepts of safe spaces in an urban environment.  It seeks to encourage women to disclose areas of concern and danger in order to force authorities to make improvements.

 

Urban Consciousness is a new form of social engagement and a radical way of looking at cities as living environments. Poster-size pictures were displayed on St-Hubert Plaza and on the Réseau vert cycling path, while several thousand postcards were distributed to Montreal businesses, backed by a media campaign promoting their efforts. This innovative way of informing the public about women’s safety and safe environments culminated at the launching of the June 4, 2003 campaign. Since then, Fanie St-Michel continues to put her talent to good use by supporting socially-engaged art-forms.

 

Text submitted by Écho des femmes de la Petite Patrie