Women as Actors in Community Safety: Taking Action Worldwide

Abstract

It has been customary to refer to women’s involvement in the criminal justice system and in the field of crime prevention as either victims or offenders, or sometimes as professionals. It is much less common to think of the role which women—and girls—themselves play in actively promoting safer cities or preventing the violence and crime which affects them because of their gender. This chapter looks at the growth of women’s participatory approaches in crime prevention, and how they are helping to increase the role of women and girls in decision-making, especially at the local level. It tracks the expansion of participatory approaches globally, and the importance of this movement in helping to change policies, attitudes and behaviours towards women and girls in both public and private spaces. Some examples of current or recent comparative projects illustrate the expansion of what is now a global movement. The final section of the chapter reflects on the ways in which the Doha Declaration of the Thirteenth United Nations Congress on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice (Doha, Quatar, 12–19 April 2015) aims to strengthen and support this work.