Experiencing the streets: Harassment and perceptions of safety among women

Although research consistently shows that women feel unsafe in a variety of situations, the social sources of these perceptions hate not been clearly identified This article examines, theoretically and empirically, the influe nce of sexual harassment on perceptions of safety among women. Because perc eptions of safety among women are largely related to fears of sexual victim ization, sexual harassment, particularly when it involves strangers, should indicate sexual vulnerability and typify particular contexts as dangerous and threatening. Using data from a national sample of Canadian women. the a uthors first examine the prevalence of stranger and nonstranger sexual hara ssment and then examine their influence on perceptions of safety. The findi ngs indicate that stranger harassment is more prevalent and more extensive than nonstranger harassment and that stranger harassment more strongly infl uences fear of victimization. The implications of these findings are discus sed.