Hi all,

As we continue to try to use logic to fight this issue, we have been informed of the VAWG Strategy and have used this as a pathway to approach the Major on this issue. (https://www.westyorks-ca.gov.uk/media/9463/the-safety-of-women-and-girls-strategy.pdf

We have carefully reviewed the West Yorkshire Safety of Women & Girls Strategy (VAWG) and find that the proposed Mary Morris House asylum accommodation plan is in direct tension with its goals. As residents who care deeply about women’s safety, dignity, and equality, we are now writing to Mayor Tracey Brabin to ask for urgent intervention.

Please see below an email template that you can adapt and send to the Mayor to raise the urgency of this issue. 

Thanks for the ongoing support and bravery in raising this key issue fairly and logically. 

CRH
Concernedresidentsheadingley@proton.me


Please adopt and email the following to: 
mayor@westyorks-ca.gov.uk
mayoral.enquiries@westyorks-ca.gov.uk
VRP@westyorks-ca.gov.uk

Subject: Urgent: Mary Morris House Proposal & Women’s Safety Risks

Dear Mayor Brabin,

I am writing as a local resident and advocate for women’s safety in West Yorkshire, in response to the proposal to repurpose Mary Morris House, Headingley into accommodation for 247 single men.

I and many others have reviewed your office’s Safety of Women & Girls Strategy (VAWG) and believe that this proposal poses risks that contradict its core principles.

 This issue is not political — it is about safeguarding, women’s rights, and upholding the values set out in the West Yorkshire Safety of Women and Girls Strategy (VAWG), which you personally championed.

 
1. Reference to the West Yorkshire Safety of Women & Girls Strategy
Your strategy rightly asserts that “every woman and girl should feel safe in every community across West Yorkshire”, including while walking to work, to school, or simply going about daily life. It emphasises “designing out fear” in our built environment, creating safe spaces for women and girls, and promoting behaviour change among men and boys.

In Headingley, these principles are currently visible in everyday life.
This area is home to thousands of young women and students who walk freely, study late, run, and socialise with confidence. It is a rare example of a mixed, lively and safe community where women’s independence is normalised. This sense of freedom is precisely what your VAWG strategy seeks to protect and extend.

Placing 247 unrelated men with no structured employment or community integration, immediately adjacent to a nursery, care home, and primary school, threatens to undermine that progress. It risks creating an atmosphere of caution and fear — not because of prejudice, but because of the observable dynamic when large single-gender groups are introduced into close proximity with women and children without sufficient planning, supervision or community consultation.

This proposal is therefore in direct tension with the core aims of the West Yorkshire VAWG Strategy, which prioritises prevention, safe public spaces, and embedding women’s safety considerations in all local decision-making.

 
2. Scale and Safeguarding Risks
Mary Morris House sits on Shire Oak Road, directly beside:

A nursery school (used daily by infants and parents),
An elderly care home employing mostly young female staff, and
Within short walking distance of a primary school and Headingley high street.
Women and children pass this route daily. Housing 247 unrelated adult men — most unable to work and with no structured daily activity — dramatically alters the character and safety dynamic of the area, particularly during dark winter evenings.

 
3. Evidence from Comparable Facilities
Evidence from other UK sites shows the importance of careful planning and supervision when housing large numbers of men:

Walsall (Park Inn Hotel, 2023): ~210 men housed; hotel worker Rhiannon Skye Whyte murdered by a resident.
Epping (Bell Hotel, 2023): Resident Hadush Kebatu convicted of sexually assaulting a 14-year-old girl; another resident, Mohammed Sharwarq, convicted of multiple assaults on staff.
Bibby Stockholm Barge, Dorset (2024): Houses 425 men; resident Moffat Konofilia convicted of sexually assaulting a 17-year-old girl.
Glasgow (Park Inn Hotel, 2020): Resident Badreddin Abdalla Adam stabbed six people before being shot by police.
These are not isolated events. They demonstrate that high-density, single-gender asylum accommodation requires rigorous planning, 24-hour management, and proximity controls — none of which appear to have been assessed here.

 
4. Cultural and Gender Context
Home Office data shows the majority of asylum seekers housed in such facilities originate from Afghanistan, Iran, Iraq, Sudan, Eritrea, and Syria — countries ranked among the lowest in the World Economic Forum’s Global Gender Gap Index.
While this is not about nationality, it is about cultural reality: gender equality norms vary significantly.
Where large groups of men from societies with limited exposure to Western gender norms are housed together, unintegrated and unsupervised, there must be a gender-based risk assessment to ensure the safety and freedom of local women.

 
5. Request for Mayoral Action
As Mayor and the regional lead for women’s safety, I urge you to:

Review this proposal under the West Yorkshire Safety of Women & Girls Strategy, assessing its impact on the “Safe Spaces” and “Behaviour Change” objectives.
Request publication of the Community Impact and Safeguarding Assessments, so women’s organisations can review and advise.
Engage the West Yorkshire Police VAWG Unit and women’s rights organisations in evaluating the risks of this proposal.
Advocate for relocation or scale reduction of this site to protect the integrity of Headingley’s existing safety culture.
 
Closing
We fully support compassion and refuge for those fleeing hardship — but this must never come at the cost of the freedom, security and confidence of women and girls who live here.

To approve such a development, in this location, without a gender-based impact assessment would not only contradict national safeguarding standards but also risk undermining your own VAWG commitments and the trust of women across West Yorkshire.

We would deeply appreciate your direct engagement on this matter and welcome the opportunity to speak with your team or your VAWG Strategy leads.

Thank you for your leadership on this issue and for your continued commitment to protecting women’s safety and equality in West Yorkshire.

Yours sincerely,