THROUGH WOMEN'S EYES : A GEOGRAPHY OF FEAR IN SINGAPORE

Abstract

This study focuses on women's fear of crime and the impacts of fear on women's daily spatial movement and behaviour in the context of a ubiquitous urban built environment in Singapore - the public housing estate. The study attempts to construct, describe and explain women's perceptual landscapes of fear and to explain its distinctiveness vis-a-vis men's. Methodologically, this was achieved through a questionnaire survey involving 153 female and 75 male respondents. Fifteen of the female respondents were then interviewed in greater depth. The aim was to draw out the personal and environmental factors that shape women's general pattern of fear. The study shows that fear is not only a more salient experience in women's lives, but also qualitatively different from that of men. In general, most women fear rape, a crime almost specific to women. Hence, to the extent that women's fear of crime is quantitatively and qualitatively different from men's experience, fear of crime is socially structured along the gender divide. Women's fear is also spatially expressed. Public spaces perceived as dangerous and the home a safe haven. The perceived geography of fear in turn impinges on women's use of public space and restricts their lifestyles by encouraging women to adopt various precautionary strategies. Explanation for the spatial distribution of fear can be sought in the socialisation of women into a 'gender appropriate' use of space. It is also argued that precautionary strategies constrict women's life-space and further reinforces the spatial and social construction of unequal gender relations. Insofar as women are sensitive to environmental cues that signal danger in public spaces, urban design and planning have a role to play in alleviating women’s fear of crime. Generally, designs that are perceived to be safe should lend themselves to public surveillance to the extent that women are placed within the visual range of others. Designs should also allow for easy avoidance of confrontational situations. It is also noted in this study that changes in the design of the built environment alone do not necessarily alleviate women's fear. Feminist analyses have situated women's vulnerability to crime and in particular rape within the structure of unequal gender relations in society. Feature research on women's fear of crime should examine the value of feminist perspectives.