Moving Bodies as Moving Targets: A Feminist Perspective on Sexual Violence in Transit

Abstract

Acts of sexual violence in transit environments are everyday occurrences for women across the globe, and the fear of being on the receiving end of sexual violence severely impacts women’s mobility patterns. Gill Valentine, in her examination of women’s fear of male violence and women’s perception and use of public space, has argued that the impact on women’s mobility amounts to a spatial expression of patriarchy. The aim of this paper is to expand upon Valentine’s notion of “the spatial expression of patriarchy” by engaging feminist philosophy within the context of sexual violence against women on public transportation. More specifically, I will argue for two particular interpretations of the spatial expression of patriarchy, one structural and one relational. It follows from my view that solutions to overcoming and ending sexual violence against women on public transportation hinge on both a structural and a relational understanding of the spatial expression of patriarchy.

Formation of Fear and Adaptive Behavior in Young Ethnic Minority Women Riding Public Transport

“…Making oneself as small as possible (2) Create distance between oneself and the antisocial behavior (8) Call/text others (3)…”

“…Adaptive behavior is a response to perceived risk of or actual experiences of crime and leads to modified behavior in travel ( 7 ). Pedersten ( 8 ) found that in the early 20th century, women would carry hatpins up to 12-in. long to defend themselves against aggressors.…”

Women’s mobility and transport in the peripheries of three African cities: Reflecting on early impacts of COVID-19

“…To take just one example, access to jobs, Woldemichael (2020) notes that lack of safe transportation for women to and from work is associated with a 15.5% lower labour force participation rate for women across developing countries: he estimates that had African countries achieved the same rate of female to male participation as high-income countries, the continent would have an additional 44 million women actively participating in its labour markets, with potential GDP gains from 1% in Senegal to 50% in Niger. Africa's highly gendered transport arena is a major travel deterrent for a majority of women: men not only still dominate all types of vehicle ownership and operation but set the ‘atmosphere’ within which women must negotiate their journeys ( Fernando and Porter 2002 ; Porter 2008 , 2011 ; Peters 2013 ; Pedersen 2020 ). Discrimination against women is also a key feature of employment within the transport sector in Africa ( Porter 2008 ; Wright 2018 ).…”

Las mujeres en alerta por violencia de género en espacios públicos. Comparativo con tres escuelas de educación superior públicas en México

“…La literatura señala que las restricciones de movilidad están relacionadas con el acoso sexual, que es consecuencia de las expresiones espaciales del patriarcado que limitan las oportunidades educativas y laborales (Hebert et al, 2020;Pedersen, 2020). De acuerdo con Condon et al (2007), el miedo limita la libertad de las mujeres para moverse en la ciudad.…”