Abstract
The lack of accessible crime data, especially geolocations, in developing countries often acts as a barrier to identifying environmental or situational factors in high crime areas that might contribute to the facilitation of those crimes. This paper presents a methodology for conducting fieldwork for creating heat maps to identify areas prone to violence against women (VAW) in Corregidora, Mexico. Heat maps were produced based on household survey data. The results were used to select specific high concentration locations to conduct structured observations and inductive visual analysis at street level in order to identify if and what situational factors might influence the perpetration of VAW in those locations. Four broad features were identified in the urban built environment during the site visits linked to the facilitation of opportunities for the commission of VAW: (1) lacking infrastructure, (2) presence of physical obstacles, (3) poor visibility and (4) restricted pedestrian mobility. The paper demonstrates the utility of this method for aiding situational crime prevention strategies in areas where official spatial crime data is unavailable or lacking. This study presents a relatively low cost (although labour intensive) and independent method of aiding crime prevention strategies, which will hopefully be of practical value for organisations in areas with poor crime recording practices and limited access to expensive mapping technologies.
Highlights
This paper presents a fieldwork methodology that used heat maps to identify areas prone to Violence Against Women (VAW) in the public sphere of five urban localities of the municipality of Corregidora, Querétaro in Mexico1
Household surveys 272 household surveys were conducted, with a response rate of 89.18%21
The mapping methods were adequate for selecting locations to conduct observations and an inductive visual analysis at street level, to assess if these areas have situational factors that may influence the perpetration of VAW
Summary
This paper presents a fieldwork methodology that used heat maps to identify areas prone to Violence Against Women (VAW) in the public sphere of five urban localities of the municipality of Corregidora, Querétaro in Mexico. Violence AgainstWomen (VAW) is defined as any act of violence that is directed towards a person who socially identifies as Garfias Royo et al Crime Sci (2020) 9:15 woman (Council of Europe 2011; Shepherd 2008) These acts can result or are likely to result in sexual, psychological or physical harm or suffering, and include coercion, threats, or deprivation of liberty, and can occur in public or private spheres (United Nations (UN) 1993). Some studies have found that VAW committed in the public space can be associated with spaces such as vacant fields and buildings, narrow paths, construction sites, parks, spaces with poor lighting or near public transportation (Belur et al 2016; Willman and Corman 2013; Dymén and Ceccato 2012) This shows that women are more likely to experience violence in certain urban areas and environments than in others (Dymén and Ceccato 2012). Different layouts and land uses, such as the segmentation of services by major roads in large city centres and the relocation of industrial areas to the periphery of cities, can pose different problems for women than for men (Loukaitou-Sideris 2016)
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