Fear and safety in transit environments from the women’s perspective

Abstract

While the relationship between women's fear of crime and public space has been the focus of considerable research, transit environments have received less attention. This study examines women's safety in transit environments through a comprehensive review of the literature and in-depth interviews with representatives of 16 national women's interest groups in the United States. It finds that women have distinct safety/security needs, are often fearful of certain transit environments and frequently adjust their behaviour and travel patterns to avoid them. This is particularly true for certain groups of women who feel more vulnerable to victimization and harassment than others. The women interviewed outlined design, policing, security technology and education/outreach strategies that would make women riders feel safer in transit settings.

Harassment on public transport and its impacts on women’s travel behaviour

“…While this appears contradictory, some scholars argue that womens fear of crime is in actuality fear of sexual crime (Hsu 2011), of which women are victimised more than men, and which is acknowledged to be vastly under-reported. Womens fear of crime can be differentiated by ethnicity, race and socio-economic status and is particularly high for women who reside in socio-economically deprived areas (Lynch and Atkins 1988;Johnson 2005;Yavuz and Welch 2010;Loukaitou-Sideris 2014). This is considered to be both a product of higher crime rates and the fact that women on low incomes are more likely to work late and rely on public transportation (Loukaitou-Sideris 2014).…”

“…A number of studies have investigated the impact of fear of crime on womens public transport behaviour (Loukaitou-Sideris and Fink 2008; Yavuz and Welch 2010;Loukaitou-Sideris 2014). At the broad level, fear of crime is understood to be amongst the most important reasons women choose not to use public transport (Lynch and Atkins 1988;Pain 1997;Loukaitou-Sideris and Fink 2008;Osmond and Woodcock 2015).…”

“…There is a large body of literature that is concerned with the conditions that contribute to feelings of fear in public transport environments, including deserted parking lots, poorly lit stations and the presence of graffiti (Lynch and Atkins 1988;Schulz and Gilbert 1996;Koskela and Pain 2000;Loukaitou-Sideris and Fink 2008;Loukaitou-Sideris 2014). These studies are largely situated within the defensible space theory after Oscar Newman (1972( in Hsu 2011, which argues that poor design enables conditions for crime.…”

A Routine Activity Approach: Assessing Victimization by Gender in Transit Environments and Other Public Locations

“…The bystander effect and a desire for anonymity by citizens may also contribute to the victimization of suitable targets in public spaces (Chekroun & Brauer, 2002). Fear of crime in these settings can influence the routine activities of people as well (Ceccato, 2016;Ceccato, 2014;Loukaitou-Sideris, 2014;Madan & Nalla, 2016;Wiebe, et al, 2014). In addition to this fear of crime, people may expect to experience an unpleasant event, such as observing a suicide on train tracks, while using the services of a railway station (Shibata, et al, 2014).…”

Activity Locus and Geographical Mobility: A Gender Perspective Case of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania

“…Mobility of wo men in developing countries is guided by a set of complex h ierarch ies; where factors influencing the gendering of mobility are diverse (Uteng, 2011) and inhib iting (Loukaitou -Siders, 2014). These factors amongst others include: social/cultural norms, transport infrastructure, physical/ area planning and wo men and men participation in informal sector and micro-cred it schemes.…”