Alone at Night

Abstract

Fear of violence appears to be widespread among women, and many feminist scholars attribute such fear to gender inequality at a societal level. The present article uses qualitative interviews with 32 women older than the age of 50 to determine the context in which women perceive violence in their neighborhoods and communities and how their present experience with fear and violence differs from childhood experience. The authors also assess the various mechanisms women employ to keep themselves safe from harm and how daily routines are altered to avoid violence. Using feminist theory as a foundation for analysis, an ecological system of violence is constructed, which incorporates the individual, neighborhood, and societal environments