'Gendered Exclusions': Women's Fear of Violence and Changing Relations To Space

'Gendered Exclusions': Women's Fear of Violence and Changing Relations to Space
Author(s): Hille Koskela

Source: Geografiska Annaler. Series B, Human Geography, Vol. 81, No. 2 (1999), pp. 111-124
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'GENDERED EXCLUSIONS': WOMEN'S FEAR OF

VIOLENCE AND CHANGING RELATIONS TO SPACE
by
Hille Koskela
with genderedpower relations.The focus is not

merelyon anindividual'suse of spacebutratheron
the intersubjectiveand gender-relatedproduction
ABSTRACT:Thispaperexamineshowwomen'sfearof violence of urbanspace. In Anglo-Americancountriesthe
is realised as spatial exclusions. Quantitative surveys on fear are
geographyof women'sfear has been widely studused to show the number of women who are afraid, and the nature
ied (e.g. Smith, 1987; Valentine,1989; Gardner,
of the most frightening places. However, it is argued that quanti1994; Pain, 1994) but in Scandinaviancountries
tative surveys are of limited value in approaching the mental and
this issue has been raised only recently (Auren,
social processes behind fear and in understanding the fear-related
production of space. Qualitative research methods are used to ex1996; Koskela, 1996; Listerborn,1996). National
plain the matter in more depth. It may be argued that fear is a concrime
surveyson safety and fear have shownthat
sequence of women's unequal status, but it also contributes to perfear is also a social problemin Scandinavia:bepetuating gendered inequalities. The paper reveals multiple expecause of fear, women's lives are more restricted
riences that change women's relations to space. Experiences and
attempts at violence, and incidents of sexual harassment produce
thanmen's (Levai Norden,1990;Tiby, 1991;Kaa space from which women are excluded on account of their genristoandTuominen,1993).Basedon qualitativereder. Social and emotional aspects, such as increased feelings of
searchdone in Finlandmy aim is to complement
vulnerability, lack of social support, and a feeling of not having
control over what is happening to oneself, have spatial conseprevious surveys and to study the geographyof
quences.Thesefeelingsoftenincreasealongwith ageing,injur- women's fear in Scandinaviansociety in greater
ing, bereavement or moving to anotherplace, as well as pregnancy
detail. The quantitativefacts given by crime surand motherhood. I argue that the spatial exclusions in women's
lives area reflectionof genderedpowerrelations.Women'ssub- veys areused as backgroundinformation.
Femalevictimizationis of especialinterestsince
jective feelings contribute to the intersubjective power-related
processof producingspace.Urbanspaceis producedby gender genderis one of the most crucialfactorsaffecting
relations, and reproduced in those everyday practices where
fearof violenceandgeographicalmobilityin urban
women do not-or dare not-have a choice over their own spatial beareas (e.g. Warr,1985; Smith, 1987; Pain, 1991).
haviour.
Becauseof fear,womenarerestrictingtheiraccess
Key words: fear of violence, gender, urban space, spatial excluto and activitywithin public space. Collectively,
sion, qualitative methods
womenconstituteanexamplepar excellenceof the
unequalvictimbecausethey aresociallyandphysically vulnerableto victimization(Painter,1992).
Introduction
Thus,I singleout women,notbecausethey areexIn recentyears women's safety in the city streets clusively the victims of violence in public space,
has been an issue of growingconcern.The debate butbecausetheyareespeciallyvulnerable.Further,
on violence andfearof violencehas been going on women'sfearis cruciallydifferentfrommen'sfear:
within urbanpolitics as well as within such aca- it differsin its extent,its natureas well as its effects
demic disciplines as sociology, criminologyand on women'slives (Pain, 1991).Onereasonfor this
geography.My aimin thispaperis to examinethese is thatwomenperceivea uniqueandseriousthreat
mattersfroma spatialperspective.Fearleadswom- barely felt by men-sexual violence (Valentine,
en to takeprecautionswhichareoften spatial,such 1992). Violent attacksand sexual harassmentreas avoidingcertainpartsof the city or not goingout mind womenevery day thatthey arenot meantto
afterdark.However,the spatialityof feardoes not be in certainspaces (Rose, 1993). When women
meana simpleidentificationanddescriptionof the adoptstrategiesto cope with fear they commonly
mostfrighteningplacesandareas,butrathera com- distancethemselves-in spaceandtime-from poplex analysisof genderedspatiality.My purposeis tential attackers(Valentine, 1992). Thus public
to examinehow spatialconstraintsareintertwined space can be consideredas one territoryto which
Koskela, Hille, 1999: 'Gendered Exclusions': women's fear of violence and changing relations to space. Geogr. Ann., 81 B (2):
111-124.
GeografiskaAnnaler- 81 B (1999) ? 2

111
HILLEKOSKELA
men hold greaterrights than women: a territory multaneouslythe mediumandthe outcomeof sofrom which women are often excludedby harass- cial practices(Soja, 1985).The social andthe spament andfearof male violence (Gardner,1994).1 tial domainsaredeeply intertwined.
In manydiscoursestheawarenessof spacebeing
producedin socialpracticeshasbeenunderstoodin
The social and spatial domains intertwined
relationto politicalormacro-economicsocialpracIt is not an inbornqualityof womento be fearful. tices. Spacehas been seen, for example,as an outManywomen are confidentand well able to cope come of the capitalistmodeof production(Harvey,
with theirenvironmentsand to takepossessionof 1973). However,spacecan be seen as constructed
space.Womenoftenshowanabilityto respondsen- out of the multiplicityof socialrelationsacrossall
siblywhenfacinga threat.If womenhavethecour- spatial scales, for example, from daily working
divisionof
ageto go out,theymakespacemoreeasilyavailable practicesof individualsto international
forotherwomenby theirpresence.However,theis- labour(Massey,1994;Simonsen,1996).It is prosue of femalecourageandboldnessis discussedin ducednot only in politicalandeconomicprocesses
greaterdetail elsewhere (see Koskela, 1997) and but in the practicesand powerrelationsof everylies beyondthe scope of this paper.The notionof day-lifeincludinggenderrelations.Furthermore-as
womenbeingsometimesableto resistfeardoes not is still rarelydiscussed-feelingsand emotionsalso
denythatin manywomen'slives fearplays an im- contribute in the process of producing space.
In orderto understandthe problemof women's
portantrole. For some, it meansfleetingmoments
of uneasiness,for others,constantand seriousre- spatialexclusion,the conceptof space as a social
strictions that profoundly shape their everyday constructis essential.This involves an interpretalives. Fromthe viewpointof a geographerthe relation of spatialitythatdiffersfromthe biasedintertions andeventsthataffectwomen'slives begin to pretationsof traditionalgeographicalapproaches.
be of especialinterestat thatpointwherewomen's First,it acknowledgesthatspatialproblemsarenot
social experiencesturnout to have spatialconse- solely questionsof mobilityordistribution
in physquences.As I will show,thesepointsaremultiple. ical space. Second, it makesit possible to underIt mustbe made clear what is meantby spatial standthatindividualuseof spaceis notbasedon inhere.When focusingon individualdecisionscon- dependentfree choices but is insteada productof
cerningmobility,women'sfearof violencecaneas- social powerrelations.
This must be taken seriouslyin researchconily be approachedas a behaviouralproblem.No
matterhow muchtimehas elapsedsince the 'gold- cerningfear. Space and social characteristicsare
en age' of behaviouralgeography,there is still a mutuallymodifying, interactingdimensionsthat
temptationto treatwomen'shabitsof movingabout deeplyaffectthenatureandshapeof women'sfear
as an individualbehaviouralmatter.However,be- (Painter,1992). Fearof crimeis constantlymodihaviouralgeographyis basedon naiveassumptions fying women'sspatialrealities.Onthe one hand,it
aboutindividualsand society-that humanspatial is a matterof personalspatialrelations,constraints
behaviour is 'determinedby preference only' on an individual'suse of space.Livinga spatially
(Rushton,1969, in Tivers,1984, p. 84). Such sim- restrictedlife because of fear constantlyreminds
plistic argumentsare far from the social realityof womenof theirrelativelypowerlessposition(Pain,
1994). On the otherhand,it is a questionof progender,violence andfear.
As RachelPainhasargued,'a mistakenassump- ductionandreproduction
of space.Inrelationto the
tion commonto more traditionalgeographicalap- everyday practices of individuals-which are
proachis that the physical areas women fear are shapedby genderedpowerrelations-space is not
moreimportantthanthe symbolicconnotationsof just a mediumfor interactionbut is also produced
space'(1994, p. 417). Focusingsolely on the areal by this interaction.
differencesof fearlevels leadsone to treatspaceas
Women'sdecisions concerningthe routesthey
a surface.However,as has been arguedfor a long choose and places they go to are modifiedby the
timewithinthediscoursesof criticalsocialandcul- threatof violence. In identifyingsafe routes and
tural geography,space is not merely a surface dangerousareas,womenformulatedifferentspacwhere social practices take place (e.g. Harvey, es: the city-especially the night city-is divided
1973; Gregoryand Urry, 1985; Lefebvre, 1991; into 'masculine' areas, with barely any women
Massey, 1994).Rather,spaceis producedin social around,and presumablysaferareaswhich fearful
wompractices;it is a socialcategoryin itself. Spaceis si- women findmore 'feminine'.Furthermore,
112
Annaler- 81 B (1999) - 2
Geografiska

'GENDEREDEXCLUSIONS':
WOMEN'SFEAROFVIOLENCE
en's decisionsnotto go outin the streetareproducing a differenttype of urbanspacethantheirdecisionsto go out.If womenstayindoorsforfearof violent attack,theiroppressorsgain morecontrolof
public space (cf. Smith, 1986;Pain, 1991).By restrictingtheirmobilitybecauseof fear,womenunwittingly reproducemasculine dominationover
space. With violence-and with a threatof violence-the city streetsarekeptas male-dominated,
heterosexualspaces (Rose, 1993). The gendered
exclusions, which producespace as a masculine
arena,mean-in women'sdaily lives-that many
women spendtheirlives under"a virtualcurfew"
(Kinsey, 1984, in Pain, 1997a, p. 234; see also
Smith, 1987).
Fear of violence according to crime surveys
This articlegoes on to discuss furtherthe number
of women in differentplaces who are affectedby
this 'curfew'imposedby the threatof violence. In
Britainas well as in the USA crime surveyshave
been 'mapping'fear for a long time2.My purpose
is notto providea detailedanalysisof thesesurveys
but ratherto give some exampleswith which the
Scandinavianfearfigurescanbe compared.Forexample,in Londonin 198456%of womenfelt 'very
unsafe' or 'not very safe' walking alone at night,
and 22% nevertravelledafterdark(Atkins, 1989,
in Trenchet al., 1992)3.Accordingto the EdinburghCrimeSurvey,56%of the olderwomenliving in the centreof Edinburghsaid they 'nevergo
out afterdark'becauseof fear(Pain,1994,p. 233).
In a survey conductedthroughoutGreatBritain,
nearlytwo thirds(64%)of the womenrespondents
fearedgoing out at night (Atkins, 1989, in Trench
et al., 1992). In the USA accordingto the National
CrimeSurveyconductedin 1975, 61%of women
in the twenty-sixlargestUS cities respondedthey
feel 'very unsafe' or 'somewhat unsafe' when
aloneatnightin theirneighbourhoods
(Gordonand
Riger,1989,p. 9). Of the womenaged65 andover,
half (49.7%)felt 'veryunsafe'(GordonandRiger,
1989, p. 10). To summarize,fearof violence is not
a problemof a small, restrictedgroupof women:
accordingto the studiespresentedheremostwomen in the Anglo-Americancountriesare at least
somewhatafraidand quite many spatiallyrestrict
theirlives becauseof fear.
In Finland,a surveycompletedin 1994 showed
that44%of womenwere afraidof walkingon Friday or Saturdaynightsin thecentreof thecity they
livedin; 32%of them'feltunsafe'and12%'didnot
dareto go to the centrealone'(Korander,1994,pp.

15-16). 'TheSafetyof Finns'studiesconductedin
1988 and 1993 show thatfear of this sort has increased.In 1988,43%andin 1993, 54%of women
respondentsansweredthey were 'worriedabout
being a victim of violence in the eveningsoutside
home'. In 1988, 32% and in 1993, 37% of those
saidtheywere 'afraid'or 'restrictedtheirmobility'
(Niemi, 1994,pp. 14).4In SwedentheCentralStatisticalOfficehasconducteda surveyon livingconditions.Thequestionconcerningsafetywas formulatedin thefollowingway: 'If you go outlatein the
eveningin the areawhereyou live, wouldyou say
you feel safe or unsafe,or do you mostlyavoidgoing outlatein theevening?'5.Accordingto thissurvey,in theStockholmarea30%of womensaidthey
feel unsafeandas manyas 33%saidthey avoidgoing out late in the evening.(Tiby,1991).
Withincities,not all placesandareasareequally
frightening.Accordingto Gill Valentine's(1989)
qualitativeresearchin Reading, UK, the places
wherewomenfelt mostinsecurewereof two types.
First, women were afraid of large open spaces
which are frequentlydeserted,such as parksand
woodland.Second,commonlyfearedplaces were
closed spaceswith limitedexits, such as subways,
alleyways and multi-storey car parks. In the
USA-according to thesurveymentionedabovewomenconsideredcertainstreetsor alleysto be the
most dangerousplaces (39%)and parksto be the
next most dangerous(20%) (Gordonand Riger,
1989).
In Helsinki, accordingto the 1993 Safety of
Finnssurvey,thepictureof urbanfearis quitesimilar. This surveyincludedboth women and men.
One-thirdof all respondents,mostof themwomen,
said therearecertainplacesin theirdaily environmentwhichtheyfindunpleasantorfrightening,especially in the evenings.Eightyper cent of these
answersare includedin the following categories:
forests, parks,recreationareas and paths (47%),
stationsand shoppingcentres (35%), and underpasses,tunnels,bridgesandcellars(18%)(Koskela
and Tuominen,1995). There were variationsaccordingto gender:womenusuallymentionedempty and isolated places, such as forests and underpasses, whereas men usually mentionedsocially
active places, such as stations.Womenindicated
they did not feel safe outof the visualrangeof others.A possibleexplanationforthisis thatit is more
likely for womenthanfor men to be able to count
on otherpeople'shelpif theyareattacked.(Koskela
andTuominen,1995).
GeografiskaAnnaler- 81 B (1999) - 2

113
HILLEKOSKELA
In Helsinki,morebroadlydefinedareasthatare
perceivedto be unsafe are the city centreand the
surroundingsof the mainrailwaystation.The centre is commonlyperceivedas dangerous:it is the
place where most people go and where strangers
it also has the
encountereach other.Furthermore,
clearestconcentrationof crimein Helsinki(Helsingin Sanomat, 1994). Otherunsafe areas of the
city aretheeasternsuburbswhichhavea reputation
forbeinglow-incomeresidentialareas,andthedistrictknownas Kallio,wherestreetprostitutionhas
recentlybecomea commonphenomenon(see Tani,
1996). The so-called 'red-lightdistricts'are commonly perceived as 'immorallandscapes':high
crime areas and feared places (Ashworthet al.,
1988; see also Hubbard,1997). This has recently
been shownto be the case also in Scandinaviancities, for example,in Gothenburg(Listerborn,1996,
pp. 77-83) andOslo (Auren,1996,pp. 76-81). Althoughin Kallio crimerelatedto prostitutionhas
not-at leastnotyet-become a problem,incidents
of sexual harassmentin the streethave increased.
This harassment,and the reputationof the areacreatedmainly by the media-has increasedthe
feelings of uneasinessand fear especially among
women.
The results of these surveyssuggest that there
arenot very significantdifferencesbetweenScandinavianwomen'sfearandthatof BritishorAmerican women.The numberof women who express
fearis in somecases smaller,butthetypesof places
in whichthey experiencefear arequitesimilar.
The significance of qualitative methods
In Finland,quantitativesurveys were previously
the only availablesourceof informationon fearof
violence (Seppinen, 1991;KaristoandTuominen,
1993; Korander,1994; Koskela and Tuominen,
1995;HeiskanenandPiispa, 1998).Theyshowthe
numberof womenwho areafraidandgive an idea
aboutwhatkindsof places are most frightening.I
have takenthe quantitativefiguresas background
information,andusedqualitativeresearchto probe
deeperinto the questionson fear,genderedpower
andthe productionof space.Crimesurveys,which
give a generalpictureof fear,areless suitablewhen
theaimis to approachthesymbolicconnotationsof
space. In quantitativesurveys,the mentaland social processes behind fear remain hidden. They
graspa differentlevel of fear thanqualitativeresearchis aimingto reveal.Quantitativesurveysare

unable to understandor explain the fear-related
114
productionand reproductionof genderedurban

space.Therefore,moresensitiveresearchmethods
are neededto explainthe specificnatureof women's fearmorerealisticallythansurveysareableto
do. This is why I havechosen qualitativemethods
to obtainthis information.The followingpartsare
basedon interviewsandwrittenstoriescollectedin
Finlandin 1996.
Thisresearchis foundedon ananalysisof fortythree women's descriptionsof their fear of violence. Eighteen take the form of in-depthinterviews, and twenty-fife are written stories. The
womeninterviewedwere agedbetween20 and43
6 and the writtenstories came from women between 26 and 82 yearsof age. The writtenstories
were collectedby placingadvertisementsin magazinesandaskingpeopleto writeabouthowfearof
violencein publicspaceaffecttheirlives7.Themotive for collectingthemwas to receivepersonalaccountswrittenby people who had experiencedviolence themselvesand to analyse experiencesof
important
peoplewho feel thatfearis a particularly
issue in theirlives. Thewomenwho wrotethewritten storieslivedin differentpartsof Finland,in major cities as well as in ruralareas.Theirstoriesindicatedthatfear is mostly an urbanphenomenon:
almostall thewomenlivingin ruralareasdescribed
fearexperiencedeitherin previousurbanplacesof
residenceor whenvisitingurbanenvironments.
The interviewedwomenlived in Helsinki.Four
were interviewed alone and fourteen in small
groupsof two or three,withsessionslastingfor between 1.5 and2.5 hours.Theinterviewsweretaperecordedwith the permissionof the participants,
andlatertranscribed.The purposeof the groupinterviewswasto helpwomen,throughdiscussion,to
rememberminorviolentor threateningexperiences. Theinterviewswerenotformalor strictlystructured;rathertheaimwasto encourageinformaldiscussion, coveringall the researchthemesat some
stage.Someof thewomenwereoutgoing,spending
time in the city centreat nightalmosteveryweekend, whereasothershad small childrenand lived
much more privateand spatiallyrestrictedlives.
Thus their relationshipsto urban space varied
widely.
In theinterviewsessionswomendescribedwhat
they are afraidof and when, what kinds of situationsareparticularlyfrighteningandwhy.Thedifferencesbetweendayandnight-changes in routes
used and 'no-go areas'and images of otherpeople-were discussed.Most discussionsaboutfear
relatedto walkingor usingpublictransport.WomGeografiska Annaler - 81 B (1999) - 2

'GENDEREDEXCLUSIONS':WOMEN'SFEAROFVIOLENCE
en reflectedon memoriesof violent experiences,

threats of violence, as well as survival stories.
Womenalso describedhow theyinterpretsome situations or people as potentiallydangerous,and
evaluatedhow theythinktheseimagesareformed.
In addition,urbanspace, such as specificfrightening areas,placesandbuiltforms,werediscussed,as
well as the moresocial dimensionsof space, such
as sexual harassmentand streetprostitution.Sessions included themes on planning:poorly built
places in women's daily environmentswere discussed, andtheiropinionson planningas a means
of makingthe city less frighteningwere solicited.
The written stories also included several descriptionsof frighteningareas,structuresand social situations.The crucialfeature,however,was
that they includedmultiple narrationsof various
experienceswhichhadchangedwomen'srelations
to theirenvironments.Manyof theseweredescriptionsof violence,butviolencewasby no meansthe
only themedescribedas causingchanges.Thewritten stories includedmany direct and indirectdescriptionsof the spatialconsequencesof fear-in
relationto bothphysicalareasandto symbolicconnotationsof space.The focus of this paperis especially on the spatialconsequencesof fear.
Deeper into fear
The presentqualitativeresearchsuggests thatthe
findingsof quantitativesurveysdescribethegeneral pictureof women'sfearquitewell. Such closed
spaces as underpasses,tunnelsor dead-endstreets
are commonlymentionedto be the most frightening places. Multi-storeycarparksaredescribedto
be unpleasanteven duringthe day. Closed spaces
with limitedexits arewidespreadin urbansettings.
In theirdaily environmentsmanywomen identify
such places as ones they preferto avoidwhenever
they can:
I think that underpasses are awful. ... If I go
for a walk and have a possibility to choose to
walk through an underpass or not, I usually
choose not to use it.
Paula,28 (in interview)8

I try to avoid the stairs ofPaciuksenkatu when
it's dark and in the evenings. When I come
home in the evenings, I try to take a tram instead of a bus. That way I can avoid the dark
stairs.
Amanda,27 (in writing)
The crime surveys show that desertedparksand

forests are most commonly perceivedas dangerous, especiallyamongwomen.This is also clearin
the presentqualitativestudy.Emptyareasarecommonly perceivedas more frighteningthan areas
where thereare otherpeople around.Parks,urban
woodland and recreationareas are places where
thereis the widestdifferencebetweendaytimeand
night-timeuses.
When it's dark, you maybe go for a shorter
run, and you go just along the streets and not
to the woods.
Birgitta,43 (in interview)

I've often wondered how my husband may go
walking to the parks, even late in the evening,
even in the autumn, and I've always asked him
whether he's afraid, but he's not. I'd never go
there.
Helena,31 (in interview)

Daytimeis rarelyconsideredto be as frighteningas
night-time:temporality,as well as spatiality,is an
importantfactor in women's fear (Pain, 1997a).
Womenfeel thattheirfreedomto use urbanspaces
varies over the day (McDowell, 1993). It mustbe
noted,however,thatnightis a social construction.
in theNorthit is nottheamountof light
Particularly
thatmakespeoplecautiousbutthe social natureof
the night.In Helsinki,for example,summernights
arejust slightly dusky,whereasduringthe winter
darknessfalls in the afternoon.Nevertheless,summer and winternights areperceivedto be equally
dangerous9.Whatmakespeoplecautiousis 'thesocial night': whatis going on, how people behave,
andhow womenexpectandhaveexperiencedmen
to behave.
Ithasbeen shownhowfearis sociallyconstructed. In daily life this happens throughparental
warnings, discussions among friends, warnings
thatarefacedin discussionswithanybody,andfurther,theculturaltransmissionreproductionof ideologies about women and the family (Valentine,
1992). An ideology of fear is supportedby crime
news itemsin the mediawhichfocus on sensational issues, exaggerateviolence and tend to blame
female victimsfor theirdestiny(Smith,1985;Karisto and Tuominen,1993). In addition,security
education, crime-preventionadvice and other
warningsremindwomen thatthey shouldbe preparedfor somethingviolent to happen(Gardner,
1990).Evenresearchsometimescan havea partin
Geografiska Annaler . 81 B (1999) - 2

115
HILLEKOSKELA
this reproductionof fear by restrictingitself narrowlyto issues of safetyandprotection,andfocusing on womenonly as victimswho haveno agency
over theirown lives (Wilson, 1991;Alcoff, 1996;
see also Koskela,1997).
My motivehasbeento discoverthoseexperiences and changes in life situationsthat have transformedwomen's attitudestowardstheir environment: 'the breakings'(Koskela,1997). This is not
to say thatfearonly emergesthroughmajorchanges or specific happeningsin women's lives, but
ratherI have used these occasionsto traceout the
originsof fearandits spatialeffects.In the following sectionsI will discuss in detailthe events and
experiencesthat changewomen's spatialrealities
andcausewomento be increasinglyexcludedfrom
the publicspace.
Violence in public space
It has been claimedthatexperiencesof minornonviolentcrimecanreducefear(Balvig, 1990).However,in thelightof currentresearch,experiencesof
violence--especially sexual offences-terrify
womenandaffecttheirlives in manyways andfor
a long timeafterwards.In my researcheverywoman who hadexperiencedviolence in the streetwas
more afraid than before the attack. The consequenceswereoften spatial.Fearproduced'a sense
of space as somethingtricky,somethingto be negotiated,a hazardousarena'(Rose, 1993, p. 146).
Forsomewomen,anxietyincreasedmainly'locally' as a fear of specific places that serve as a reminderof the incident:
Fears remained an unpleasant part in my life
... Closed narrow places became quite a
threat. Forests, walkways and such places became a real problem. I had always loved walking in forests, it could be said the forest was
my love. Now it has become like an enemy:
frightening, threatening, which hides something that can cause me suffering.
I lost two years in studies and in everything

else after that event [a violent rape attempt]. I
couldn't concentrate on anything because I
saw nightmares. Even in daytime I was startled every time when someone came from behind me, especially if it was a man.
Senni,72 (in writing)
Sometimesthe spatialconsequencesof fearculminatein morecomprehensivedecisions.Theburden

of a memorycan be so strongthatin orderto recover,one needs to move to an entirelynew environmentthatdoes not constantlyremindone of experiencedviolence:
A couple of years later I had to move away
from Helsinki to a little country town. There I
gradually managed to get rid of myfears.
Senni,72 (in writing)
Whereasfor some women 'a new turningpoint'such as movingto a ruralenvironment-can make

recoverypossible,othersareboundto theireveryday life withoutany possibilityto changeit. They
areforcedto adjustto the urbanenvironment.This
makes women increasingly conscious of their
movementsandof otherpeople aroundthem:
Now [after facing several violent situations
during the course of my life] if I move in the
night I change the side of the street often and
don't let anyone walk in front of me or behind
me.
Kerttu,63 (in writing)

Fearfulwomenareconstantlyalertto whathappens
aroundthem (see also Valentine,1989).They scan
the environmentandchoosetheirroutesin relation
to otherpeople(mostlymen)nearby.Theyinterpret
the slightestsignsof dangerto thebestof theirability. They act like radars:theirexistence becomes
'bat-like'.
Sylvi, 67 (in writing)
Attempted Violence and Sexual Harassment

For otherwomen, fear afterexperiencedviolence It may appearnaturalthat the experienceof viocomes as a more generalchange affectingsocial lence engendersfear of violence, but it is imporlife as well as freedomof mobility:theybecomein- tantto note that attemptedviolence has the same
creasinglyexcluded from public space. Violence effect. Even minor offences can cause fear of a
inflictedon a woman by one particularman be- more seriousattackby remindingwomenof their
comes fearof violence fromany man.This fearof vulnerabilityand the possibility of victimization
anymanin the streetturnsspaceintoa highlymas- (Stanko,1990). Womenexperiencea rangeof ofculine field:
fensive behaviourwhich they may perceiveas of116
Geografiska Annaler - 81 B (1999) - 2

'GENDEREDEXCLUSIONS':WOMEN'SFEAROFVIOLENCE
fensive but which would not necessarilybe considered criminal.Nevertheless,such experiences

profoundlyshapewomen'slives, creatinga different social reality for them than for men (Painter,
1992).Theseeverydayexperienceswhichcontributeto women'sfearsareoftentrivialized(Morrell,
1996). Sexual harassmentis a glaringexampleof
this.
Attemptedviolence, of course,variesconsiderably.Sometimesthe offenderdoes not even touch
the victim, but the threatcan still be very real.An
attemptedrape,some otherformof violent attack,
someone grabbingone's shoulders,or someone
shouting in a threateningvoice-all these can
cause fear which takes the form of spatial constraints.Attemptedviolencecanterrifywomenand
affecttheirlives deeply,eventhoughtheyweresuccessful in avoidingphysicalviolence. 'Hanna'was
attackedwhen she returnedto her apartmentone
night.Theoffendernevermanagedto touchherbecause she frightenedhim with a shout,butshe was
neverthelessterrified:
One night I was in a tram... and there was a

big black man who was staring intently at me
all the way, and got off the tram at the same
stop, and I was terrified... I thought that if no
one were walking the way I was going I would
have walked somewhere else.
Paula,28 (in interview)

Women'sresponsesto harassmentin publicspace
vary from silence and avertingtheireyes to open
angerandresistance(AapolaandKangas,1994).It
is impossibleto predictwhich reactionwould be
best suitedto help women to escape or resolve a
given situation.
But it is very difficult to decide, when someone
comes to wag one's tongue, whether to argue
back or leave. It depends on the fact that
someone might get angry when you talk back
and someone else if you don't say anything.
Riikka,28 (in interview)
Flashingcan be consideredto be a seriousformof

sexualharassment.Flashing,as well as otherforms
of harassment,remindswomenof thethreatof sexual violence. SandraMcNeill (1987) has categorizedwomen'sresponsesto flashingin termsof localized effects, such as avoidingcertainplaces or
activities,andgeneraleffects, such as fearof open
Hanna,33 (in interview) spaces or going out afterdark.Accordingto McNeill, womenwho meet a flasherhave variousreThe incidentsof sexualharassmentin publicspace actions-fear, shock,disgust,anger,humiliationor
women of sexual danger.Sexual giggling---oftenexperiencedsimultaneouslyor in
serve
to.remind
is quitecommonandit happensin lim- succession.Clearly,at least for some women,seeharassment
ited-accessspacessuchas at one's workplaceor in ing flashersis frightening.
restaurantsas well as in publiclyaccessiblespaces
In the central parks [of Oulu] I've seen a
suchas city streets(WiseandStanley,1987;Gardrecord amount of flashers. Sometimes even in
ner, 1995). There is an extensive amountof rethe street. They are not supposed to be dangersearchshowingthatharassmentis linkedto womous. I think they are frightening and unnatuen's fearof violence (e.g. McNeill, 1987;Gardner,
ral. I'll never get used to seeing them.
1990; Pain, 1991; Auren, 1996). Sexual harassment 'evokes fear of more severe sexual attack
Inkeri,39 (in writing)
throughroutinelycreatinga stateof insecurityand
Even though I wouldn't be afraid of someone
unease amongst women' (Pain, 1991, p. 421).
Womenfind harassmentoffensive, upsettingand
attacking me I wouldn't take the risk of meeting a flasher because I think they are so terrifrightening:
I was working at nights then. I was running a
roulette wheel, and it [walking home] was really distressing. I started to use a taxi every
night and never walked at night any more. And
I even told the driver to wait until I was safely
inside the gate.
This happens quite often to me... Ifeel like, oh

no, this is so unpleasant. Likefor example into
a bus comes a man, in his fifties, very drunk,
sits besides me and starts to touch my hair and
everything. I think it's really offensive.
bly insulting and threatening. Something that

completely upsets me and makes me angry,
and somehow Ijust find it disgusting.
Hanna,33 (in interview)
The risk of being confrontedby a flashercauses

Susanna,20 (in interview) some womento significantlyrestrictor adjusttheir
GeografiskaAnnaler? 81 B (1999) - 2

117
HILLEKOSKELA
movements.Womenpreferto avoid certainenvi- olence who now lives alone,is a clearexampleof

ronmentsratherthan'taketherisk'of facinganup- how privateexperiencescan shape life in public
settingandfrighteningsituation(see also Burgess, space:
1998). This is how the eventsof flashingproduce
masculinespace.The sameprocessappliesto other
I feel like an animal which has been chased
formsof sexualharassment.Justas in incidentsof
into a cage... I am a mental prisoner of these
andinsultingeventsof
violence,theuncomfortably
experiences of mine. I don't dare to move anharassmentproducea spacefromwhichwomenare
ywhere after dark. And even in the summer
excludedon accountof theirgender.
when it's light, my mobility is restricted to
Domestic violence
Humangeographyhas conventionallybeen concernedonly with publicactivities.Geographyhas
takenfor grantedthe distinctionbetweenthe public and the private,and, implicitly,the gendered
associations of these spheres (McDowell, 1993;
see also Duncan, 1996). However,it is clear that
in women'slives violence andthreatof violence is
not limited to the public sphere:women are vulnerableto men's violence in the domestic sphere
as well (e.g. HanmerandSaunders,1984;Gordon
and Riger, 1989; Valentine, 1992; Rose, 1993).
The majorityof the worst crimes of violence are
committedwithin the confines of home and thus
those whom,in statisticalterms,womenhavereason to fearmost arethose who areclosest to them
(Persson,1981, in Tiby, 1990). Forexample,a recent victimization survey in Finland show that
70% of threatand violence and 85% of violence
which caused injury was committed by an acquaintance (Heiskanen and Aromaa, 1998). In
Sweden,the correspondingfigureconsideringassaults has been 80% (Tiby, 1991). Yet, research
has shownthatwomen perceivethemselvesto be
in dangerfrom strangemen and in public space.
(Valentine1989; 1992). Perceptionsof safety and
dangerare stronglylinkedto the ideologicaldivision between public and private space (Pain,
1997a).
Privateviolence can make one more fearfulin
public space. Domestic violence 'may affect the
broaderspatialexperiencesandchoices of women
affectedby of threatenedby it' (Pain,1991,p. 417).
Feelingsof fearandthreatcannotbe expectedto be
spatiallydivided.In women'smindsthereis often
no distinctionbetweenprivateand public dimensions of fear.Homeis, in manyways, an important
context for the exercise of power: in relationto
powerandexclusion,publicandprivatespace can
be seen as 'reciprocallyconditioned'(Sibley,1995,
p. 77).
'Linda',a victimof childabuseanddomesticvi118
places where there are people around. I cannot go into Nature, which I would like so
much. I don't dare to. When I go for a walk I
go to places where there are lots of other people.
Linda,44 (in writing)
Violence in privatespaceis often invisible,and is

sometimestrivializedorregardedas a non-political
privatematter:this violence reinforcessubordination and inequality in a hidden form (Duncan,
1996). This makesit especiallyimportantto overcome the distinctionbetween the privateand the
public sphere. The threatof violence in private
space can seriouslyshapewomen'sexperiencesof
space andplace in general(Pain,1997a).Thefeeling of nothavingcontroloverwhatis happeningto
oneself comes as a consequenceof any violentexperience,not only streetviolence.
Increased feelings of isolation and
vulnerability
Fearis deeplyembeddedin a sense of vulnerability-both physicaland social-and powerlessness
(Smith,1989;Tiby, 1991).Fearhas been shownto
be most acute where communitiesfeel a sense of
powerlessnessand a lack of local democraticcontrol (Smith, 1989). Those who sufferthe most oppression-who most often feel marginalizedand
helpless-are the ones who aremost afraid.Flemming Balvig (1990) has arguedthatfearcannotbe
regardedonly as a responseto crimerates,butmust
also be understoodin a widercontextof life. For
those who have few resourcesand who are at the
peripheryof society,basic existentialinsecurityis
easily transformedinto fear.Balvig suggeststhere
is a connectionbetweenisolationandfearof crime:
'the greaterthe social isolation--the more one is
left out in society andthe weakerone's positionin
the social network-the greaterthe fear of crime'
(Balvig, 1990, p. 93).
Ageing has often been connectedto an increase
in anxiety. Older people often experiencesocial
Annaler- 81 B (1999) - 2
Geografiska

isolation and lonelinessas well as physicalfrailty

and inability to resist attack (Smith, 1987). Although researchon fear among older people has
been criticizedforreproducinga negativeimageof
old age (Pain, 1994), many crime studies have
foundthatolderwomenarethe ones who aremost
afraid(e.g. Smith, 1987;GordonandRiger, 1989;
in Finland, Korander,1994; Keskinen, 1998; in
Sweden,Vogel, 1991).Olderwomen'sfearis related to their feelings of vulnerabilityand helplessness. However,since the connectionsbetweenage
and fear have been studied elsewhere(see Warr,
1984;Smith,1987;Pain,1995, 1997b)my purpose
is not to go any moredeeply into thatsubject.
Of course,thereareotherfactorsbesidesagethat
Womenwith
contributeto feelingsof vulnerability.
disabilitiesor fromnon-whiteethnicbackgrounds,
in particular,may experiencean increasednumber
of threats(Morrell,1996). Illness or disabilitycan
have a crucialaffecton fear of violence. Pain'sresearch(1994, 1997a, 1997b)indicatesthatviolent
crimecan havea particularimpactuponthe spatial
experiences of women with disabilities, compounding the constraintsthey may experience.
Physicaldisabilitycan makea womanfeel a more
likely victim of an attackandless able to resist an
attackorto escape.The feelingof vulnerabilitycan
also follow the notionof being 'the other',an outsiderin a societyof able-bodiedpeople(Chouinard
and Grant, 1996). A violent experiencebrings a
'double'experienceof vulnerabilityto a disabled
person.
I was injured last year to both my lower limbs
... I can move short distances with a walkingframe, but it is very unsteady ... When I was
healthy, I was never afraid of anything ... Now
that I'm injured, there is also the fear that
somebody is going to attack me.
Eine, 49 (in writing)

Disabledwomen are often concernedaboutbeing
seen as 'easy targets'(Pain, 1994). The disability
neednot necessarilybe severe:even weak-sightedness or a tendencyto faintcan createa sense of defencelessnessandthuscause fear.
I went through brain tumour surgery and after
that I began to have epileptic fits. And because
of them I've been a victim of violence and
mental cruelty ... I'm also visually impaired.
That has become a burden, too.
Lyyli (in writing)
it is notonly physicalabilitiesthatinFurthermore,
crease the sense of vulnerabilitybut also mental
conditions. Such problems as agoraphobiacan
changeone's spatialexperienceradically(Gardner,
1994).In addition,mentalillnesscanmakeone feel
deprived,an outsiderin society,and cause fear of
intentionalviolence andbullying.
I have a mental illness and I'm afraid of moving out, especially in the dark seasons ... And
I avoid the streets in the centre, where the
youths meet. Youngstershave thrown stones at
me ... Once they took dog's poop from the
ground and swept it to my arms ... After that
my fear was very strong for a long time.
Kirsi, 32 (in writing)
Social isolationcan also be seriouslyincreasedby

a specific event-a death,for example. Bereavementmeansnot only extremesadnessbut a weakening of one's social networks.Further,it sometimesmeanschangesin thetermsof one'smobility.
Increasedfeelings of vulnerabilityand lack of social supportcause fear:
When my mother died and I was left alone in
a big house, I started tofear that anyone could
appear behind the door.
Vuokko,63 (in writing)
When after my husband died there was no car

lift available I gave up ALL the evening outings.
Olga, 69 (in writing)

Especiallyforolderpeoplewhomaybe usedto certain habits of moving around,bereavementcan
havespatialconsequences.Forexample,if a couple
has beenmarriedfor a long time andhas sharedthe
sameleisureactivitiesandsocialcontacts,it is clear
thatwhenone of themis left alone,it revealsa differencein perceivedrisksandvulnerability.
In addition,otherbig changesin women'slives,
such as movingto anotherplace, arefollowedby a
weakeningsense of controlandconfidenceandan
increasein fear.Oftenwomenfeel safe in environmentstheyknowwell andfeel at homein. Moving
to anotherplace meansnot being familiarwith the
environment.An unknownareaeasily producesa
sense of insecurity(Friberg,1990). In addition,it
means,especiallywhenmovingfroma smalltown
to a bigger city, a diminishedability to read the
signs of danger.Inadequatesocial skills and im-
GeografiskaAnnaler- 81 B (1999) ? 2

119
HILLE KOSKELA
pairedsocial networkseasily causeone's life to be

restrictedto private space. Social exclusion--a
sense of being an outsiderin a community--can
become a spatialexclusionas well. This is not to
deny thatmovingto a new environmentcan sometimesbe usedas a meansof recovery,as was shown
in the previous section on violent experiences.
Whenanalysingtheseoccasionsandsituationsthat
makewomen feel increasinglylonely and vulnerable, it becomes clear that fear is not connected
merelyto crimeratesor to presumedrisksof being
a victim.Itis a complexandmultipleissuethatmay
be influencedby manyaspectsof life.
Motherhood and Fear
One change which causes women to experience
spatialconstraintsis motherhood.Frompregnancy
it may follow thatwomenchangetheirspatialbehaviour:they feel discomfortor less welcome in
manyplaces and stop visiting some places (Longhurst, 1998). Pregnantwomen easily and almost
unconsciouslyabandonthepublicsphere-at least
the darkstreetsat night. Moreover,they are constantlyadvisedto do so in the medicaldiscourse
they face and in the warningsof friendsand relatives:
Many people say that when you have children
it [the fear] starts. Our first one is just about
to be born and often people tell me to be careful and everything. The warnings come from
all over Maybe it does that, it opens your eyes
more and you think maybe you should be more
careful. And also my husband says the taxi is
the only option to travel with.
touchmostpregnantwomento some extent.Much

of thesocialcontrolof women'sbehaviourrelieson
normsof respectability,suchas beinga goodmother (Greenet al., 1987). Pregnantwomen areoften
treatedas 'prospectivemothers'and expectedto
fulfil a mythicalrole of a mother.
Nevertheless, motherhood brings enormous
changesin manywomen'slives. Havinga life situationwitha higherdegreeof responsibilitysometimesmeansthatwomenarenot so muchafraidfor
themselvesas fortheothers,includingchildrenand
husbands:
After having children I have started to think
about the possibility of being a victim of violence. You can't really so much be afraid for
yourself but the idea that something bad
might happen to my children or husband is
tormenting.
Annukka,34 (in writing)

Women'semotionsarecharacterizedby theirlove
fortheirchildrenandpartners.Yettheirfearalsoreflects a more generalconcernfor life. Feelingsof
responsibilityandcarearefollowedby spatialconstraintson one's lifestyle:
Earlier I used to move a lot in the city centre,
and I was kind of more courageous when I was
with friends. But now, when I have a child, I
move less frequently... I've got like a threshold, so that I can't go or dare not go, or what
if something happens.
Petra,30 (in interview)
In Britain,motherhoodis associatedwithhigh levManta,24 (in interview) els of concern about child sexual assault (Pain,
1997a). In Scandinaviancountries,this issue has
There is a tendencyto treatpregnantwomen as morerecentlybecome the focus of public debate,
thoughthey were physicallyincapacitatedand to but nevertheless,the harassmentof childrenis a
advisethemto actaccordingly:therhetoricof preg- realconcernformothers.'Tove',who lives nearthe
nancyis constructingpregnantwomenas 'belong- prostitutiondistrictin Kallio,writes:
ing within the confines of the domestic realm'
I'm not afraidfor myself butfor my little year(Longhurst,1996, p. 146). As a consequenceof
theirreproductiverole, women are 'putback'into
and-a-half-old girl. I'm already planning to
move out from this area because I wouldn't
the domestic sphere and excluded from public
dream of letting my girl walk alone to school
space. Havingless contactwith public space may
mean a less balancedpictureof its risks, and less
... Thisfear makes me distressed and unhappy.
this
necit
when
becomes
at
Tove, 34 (in writing)
expertise negotiating
essary(Pain,1994).Althoughwomen'sexperiences of pregnancy-and the spatial changes that By motherhoodit comes moreprevalentto be concome withit-certainly vary,'theunwrittencultur- cernedaboutsafety.The social expectationsshow
al rules of pregnancy'(Longhurst,1998, p. 29) do a clearmessage:medicaldiscourses,mediadebates
120
Geografiska Annaler - 81 B (1999)
2
?

as well as communicationwith relatives and

friends constantlyremindmothersof the importanceof the safetyof children.Pregnantwomenare
advisedto pay specialattentionto theirhealthand
safetyin orderto protectthe unbornchild.Mothers
are remindedaboutthe variousdangerstheirchildrenmightmeet, rangingfromtrafficaccidentsto
child sexualassault.Suddenly,safetybecomesthe
key word of everyday life. Hence it becomes natural
to be concernedaboutthe safetyof publicspaceas

well bothfor womenthemselvesandfor theirchildrenandpartners.
Conclusions: gender and exclusion

Scandinavianwomenareoften consideredto have
equalityandindependence.Indeed,in Scandinaviancities womendo notrestricttheirlives withinthe
privatesphereto the sameextentas theyhavebeen
claimed to do in cities elsewhere (see Koskela,
1997). It could be claimed that women's confidence to use public space is a reflectionof gender
equality.However,despitethefactthatsome Scandinavianwomenarecourageousandspatiallyconfident,this paperhas shownthatmanyare fearful.
Also in Scandinaviagenderworksas a basisforexclusion. Despite this women'ssafety has not been
amongthe aimsof urbanplanningin the Scandinavian countries, unlike in the Anglo-American
countrieswhereit is commonlyacceptedas an importantaim.Whatis now neededis bothdiscussion
on urbanpolicies and planningprocedureswhich
wouldincreasesafetyandtheoreticalreasoningon
the social andspatialstructuresof fear,genderand
urbanspace.
Urban space is producedby gender relations,
andreproducedin those everydaypracticeswhere
women do not-or dare not-have a choice over
theirown spatialbehaviour.Experiencedviolence,
threat of violence, sexual harassmentand other
eventsthatincreasewomen'ssenseof vulnerability
are reinforcingmasculinedominationover space.
Fearcanbe arguedto be a consequenceof women's
unequalstatus,butsimultaneouslyit is contributing
in perpetuatingthe gendered inequalities (Pain,
1991).The spatialconstraintsin women'slives are
a reflectionof genderedpowerrelations.
It has been claimed that women's fear of violence is a manifestationof social control. It is a
common argumentof radicalfeminists that violenceis usedby mencollectivelyas a wayto control
women-that there is a 'conspiracy'among all
mento intimidatewomen(Duncan,1996).Howev-
er, I wish to distancemyself fromthis extremeargument, which relies on a concept of 'personalized' power.The notionthatwomen-as individuals-are excluded from public space because of
male violence does not lead to the conclusionthat
only men-as individuals-cause this exclusion.
Rather,it is a mosaicof complexprocessesof power andgenderrelations.
Womenoften restricttheirmobility 'voluntarily'. Women'sinabilityto use spacefreelyis notregardedas a seriousconstraintbut rathera normal
and acceptedcondition.Womeneitherconsiderit
naturalto have constraintsor claimthatit is fairly
easy to organizelife in such a way:
It is clear that an old person, even a person
who enjoys an outdoor life, stays at home
when it is dark.
Olga, 69 (in writing)

Fear of street violence is influencing my life in
such a way that I normally go nowhere on Friday or Saturday nights, especially not in the
dark seasons ... For a pensioner this habit is
easy to follow ... The late evening outings are
not important at all.
Rauha,59 (in writing)
This ostensiblevoluntarity,however,is not a simple matterof individualchoice.Ina situationwhere

a threatof male violence is not present,a woman's
choice (notto go out) could verywell be different.
Thusherdecisionis not a matterof individualmobility butrathera resultof gendered(andage-related) power. Much of the power which modifies
women's behaviourcan be regardedas beingcontrol through'consent' ratherthan through'coercion' (Greenet al., 1987,p. 91). Thispoweris often
takenfor granted,andthusremainsunnoticed.The
notion that 'exclusionstake place routinely,without mostpeoplenoticing',is animportantaspectof
the problem(Sibley, 1995, p. xiv). This makes it
particularlyimportantto focus researchin such a
way thatit helpsto revealthehiddendimensionsof
powerandexclusion.
When women are afraid-when they feel uncomfortableaboutbeing in a certainspace-they
avoid this space and are forced to reproducethe
masculinedominationoverspaceagainsttheirwill.
Their subjectivefeelings participatein the intersubjectivepower-related
productionof space.Feelings of fear are simultaneouslya consequenceof
women's subordinatepositionand theirown con-
Geografiska Annaler ? 81 B (1999) - 2

121
HILLEKOSKELA
tributionsto the perpetuationof genderedpowerin

relationto space.Thispaperhas attemptedto make
visible some of these powerrelationswhich have
spatialconsequencesand which contributeto the
genderedexclusionsthattakeplace in contemporarycities.
Hille Koskela, Department of Geography, PO Box
4, Fin-00014 University of Helsinki, Finland.
E-mail: hille.koskela@helsinki.fi
Notes
It mustbe notedthatthe issue of safetyandvulnerabilityis

deeplyconnectednot only to genderbut to raceand sexual
orientation(often togetherwith gender)(e.g. Smith, 1986;
Rose, 1993;Valentine,1996).However,in my empiricalresearchneitherrace nor sexual orientationhave been discussed enough for me to be able to analysetheir significancein relationto fear.This is probablyat leastpartlydue
to the racialhomogeneityof Finnishsociety and the relativelyhiddenrole of sexualminoritiesin Finland,as well as
to therelativelysmallsampleof womenon whichmy qualitativeanalysisis based.Hencethe feelingof insecuritythat
is boundinto the structurally
subordinate
positionsof some
women,for example,ethnicor sexualminorities,is not discussedin thispaper.Yet this is by no meansto denythe imof minoritygroupsor
vulnerability
portanceof the structural
the importanceof differencesamongwomen.
The numberof fearfulwomenis relatedto the formof the
questionasked,andthusmost studiesare not directlycomparable.
It is importantto understandhow muchthe wordingof the
questioncanaffecttheresults.Multipletermscanbe usedto
describethe natureandlevel of fearfulness.Forexample,in
English, terms such as 'fear', 'worrying', 'irritation',
'shock'. In Finnish,wordssuch as 'pelko', 'huolestuneisucan be used;in Swedish, 'rddd','otryus', 'turvattomuus'
gg', 'orolig'; and in Norwegian,'frykt', 'redd', 'utrygg',
'urolig';andso on. The exactformulationof the questionis
by no means withoutimportance.It can very much affect
the impressionwhicha respondentgets. Oftenthe researcher's idea of the informationbeing eliciteddiffersfromthe
impressionof a respondent.The choice of the wordingdependson the subjectiveimagesof the researcherwho is responsiblefor it, and the importanceof this mattercan be
easily neglected. Hence the presumedobjectivenessof
quantitativeresearchcan be-even in the light of this considerationalone-seriously questioned.
The original wording of the questions in Finnish was:
'Kuinka turvalliseltaTeisti tuntuu kavellessanneyksin
kespaikkakuntanne
my6haanperjantai-ja lauantai-iltoina
kustassa?'(Korander,1994);and 'huolivikivallankohteeksi joutumisestailtaisinkodinulkopuolella'(Niemi, 1994).
Theoriginalquestionin Swedishwas 'OmDu ga'rut senten
kvall i Ditt omratde,
kannerDu Dig tryggeller otrygg,eller
gar Du i stortsett aidrigut sena kvhllar?'(Tiby, 1991, p.
backgrounds,
occupationsand social classes willingto take
partin suchresearchprojects.My lettersof invitationwere
sent to female membersof the ConsumerPanel (aged between 20 and 30, living in Helsinki)askingthemto attend
for interview.Most of the women I interviewedcame
throughthis route,and a few came throughpersonalcontacts.
Theadvertisements
wereplacedin a popularwomen'smagazine(Anna)andin a magazinereceivedforfreeby all pensionersand social securityclaimants(KelanSanomat).Of
thirtystories,twenty-fivewere writtenby womenand five
by men.The women'sstorieshavebeenanalysedhere.
The quotationsfrom interviewsand written stories have
been translatedfrom the original tapes and letters transcribedin Finnish.Hence 'the atmosphereof spokenlanguage' and the women'spersonalways of describingtheir
feelingshavebeendifficultto sustain.However,I havepaid
specialattentionto retainingtheirtoneas muchas possible.
In the qualitativematerialI collectedthere was evidence
thatbothwinternightsandsummernightswereperceivedto
be the most dangerous.In winterthe nightswere perceived
to be dangerousbecauseof the darkness.Summernights
werearguedto be dangerousbecauseof the warmertemperatures,whichmakesit is easierto stayhiddenin bushesand
becausepeoplearegenerallymovingaroundmore.
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'Gendered Exclusions': Women's Fear of Violence and Changing Relations To Space

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