“It’s up to us…”

“What does a safe city look like?”

…is not a question we routinely ask ourselves because it’s sadly easier to ask, ‘what does a dangerous city look like?’ For one person ‘danger’ could be in the poor quality of air, for another high levels of fast traffic. And while these are serious concerns for everyone, it is a sad fact that for women and girls all over the world, simply venturing into their cities can feel like running a gauntlet of risk. But perspective is everything – to understand a problem, we need to see it.

Along with five other cities around the world, in Brussels a group of young people were given the chance to show a different side to their city – the way it feels to them. Working with Canon Ambassadors Bieke Depoorter and Mashid Mohadjerin, they were taught how to harness powerful tools – a camera and their own ideas – to bring to life their concerns, vulnerabilities and experiences. They learnt the importance of action and what it means to be an advocate for social and policy change. Then they went out into their neighbourhood and put these new skills to the test.

Each student is between fifteen and twenty years old, so the lens through which each views their city sits on a spectrum. But it is important to remember that the issues they raise are issues for everyone. That said, it’s incredibly discomforting to know that a fifteen-year-old child feels unsafe in the place they call home.

When you consider the issues they address in the context of their age – most of these young people are, of course, children – a lack of gender equality in public spaces and concerns around safety at night are somehow easier to swallow than the very stark examples they give of harassment. Their images are not intended to shock, but the discovery that this is a very real fear for girls of eighteen and under is, frankly, disturbing and distressing

“It is difficult for some girls to talk about verbal harassment situations,” explains one of the girls. “On the one hand, we tend to think that it is not important: we are alive and physically well. On the other hand, we can’t stop thinking of about words that hurt us.”

To know this is important. It helps us to understand that what these young people have undertaken is not just a creative project. This is activism. Their images are the result of education – not only in photography, but in issues around gender equality, the skill of public speaking and how to influence and educate others. They have taken their experiences forward, formed a youth forum and presented at Belgian Parliament. They are being taken seriously and proving that it is possible for young people to drive real and manifest change.

This is art with an outcome.

"BruxELLES: Our safe cities" is a joint initiative between Plan International, an organisation that advances children’s rights and equality for girls, and Canon’s Imaging For Good, which supports and empowers young people aged 13-18 years to express the need for change in the world through visual storytelling. All images are copyright of Plan International Belgium – Young activists.