Individual and spatial dimensions of women’s fear of crime: a Scandinavian study case

Abstract

ABSTRACT Using insights from criminology and urban geography, this article seeks to investigate individual and spatial dimensions of women’s fear of crime, in particular amongst women who declare to feel the most unsafe. This study is based on three waves of data of the Stockholm Safety Survey using exploratory data analysis and binary logistic regression. Informed by an intersectional framework, the study shows how individual attributes including gender, age, and previous victimisation affect women’s perception of safety. Modelling results indicate how the neighbourhood context affects women’s behaviour in face of fear (functional and dysfunctional fear). Among the most fearful women, poor social contacts in their neighbourhood, rather than fear of crime itself, lead to place avoidance.