Perspectives and Solutions on How Women Feel Walking at Night

            In class, we discussed the concept of how women perceive public space different than men and how this difference causes women to have a greater fear of walking alone at night. In Koskela’s article that we read for class, it contains examples of women fearing men in public space, particularly at night. One example given by the author is a woman walking to her car at night and having the feeling at someone is following her instead of it just being a coincidence that he is behind her, with the woman prepared with a plan should something bad happen (1997, pg. 306). This situation and many like it, have been impacting women for many decades.

            In an article written by Asmita Ghosh, they discuss how public spaces are designed primarily for men. One of their key points is that women are seen first as a female body before they are seen as a person. They also contrast this with the idea that men do not have this problem as they are seen as people without regard to their gender. This leads to objectification of women, or as Ghosh put it, “an object of consumption” (2016). Their theory for this predicament is that since men far outnumber women in public, women are seen as something to be judged (2016). Overall, this series of factors could contribute to an increased anxiety by women when they enter the streets at night. Women are afraid to be seen solely as something to be obtained.

            In a video interview with Sadia Khatri, she discusses the difference between when men want to leave the house versus when women do. She states that men have no problem when they want to leave the home, it is seen as normal. But, when women want to leave the home, it is seen as a safety concern (n.d.). She describes that when women do leave the home they go to locations that are monitored, instead of walking in public streets where they could be considered to be more vulnerable. She suggests we need to blur the line between public and private space, so women can feel comfortable in all public spaces (n.d.). Society needs to see women in public on the same level as men in order to create a safe environment for women.

            An article on villainesse.com describes solutions on how men can help women at night. All these solutions are shown from the perspective of a man. The first solution is to not follow a woman too closely at night. Instead, the man should cross the street, get a fair distance ahead of the woman, then cross the street again once the man is a considerable distance in front of the woman. Or if the man is unable to do this, they should do some other activity while walking in order to take the attention away from the woman (2019). Another situation is when a man is waiting at a bus stop with only one other person whom is a woman. The article says the man should spatially place himself the farthest distance possible from the woman, as to not make it seem like the man is focused on the woman (2019). The article also states that men should not be offended by these ideas, as the author deems them necessary in order to create safe public spaces for women (2019).  

            In conclusion, for women to have the same chance as men to have a safe experience in public, men must be the ones who are the change agents. Men have to view women as their equal, in order for there to be no hierarchy between them, that way men have no leverage over the women and everyone can enjoy public spaces just as much as everyone else.

 References

AAHUNG NGO. (n.d.). Women and Girls in Public Spaces: 'Men's Spaces' . Retrieved December 3, 2019, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OeGqmViS0mI.

Ghosh, A. (2016, November 4). Women in Public Spaces: Do Public Spaces Only Belong To Men? Retrieved December 3, 2019, from https://feminisminindia.com/2016/11/04/womens-experience-of-public-spaces/.

How men can help women walking alone at night. (2019, January 7). Retrieved December 3, 2019, from https://www.villainesse.com/think/how-men-can-help-women-walking-alone-night.

Koskela, H. (1997). Bold walk and breakings: womens spatial confidence versus fear of violence.