Women's fear of crime in Canadian public housing

That women have a greater fear of crime than men has off en been termed irr ational or paradoxical, but this article joins those who argue that the gen dered nature of fear is well grounded. The authors investigate the extent t o which various factors-including prior victimization, percept ions of neig hborhood disorder, routine activities, and neighborhood satisfaction-predic t women's perceptions of personal safety. Survey and semistructured intervi ew data were collected from 219 women living in six urban public housing es tates in eastern Ontario. Both disorder and neighborhood satisfaction have a moderately strong impact on perceptions of insecurity, whereas prior vict imization is a negligible factor. One conclusion is that improving services (e.g., removing garbage, graffiti, vandalized items) may reduce fear as mu ch as reducing crime.