Ms. Marisa Canuto - International Centre for the Prevention of Crime

8e Colloque annuel du CIPC, Querétaro, Mexique
ICPC’s Eighth Annual Colloquium, Querétaro, Mexico
El 8o Coloquio Anual del CIPC, Querétaro, México
Mme Marisa Canuto, Canada
Directrice générale, Femmes et villes international
Ms. Marisa CANUTO, Canada
Executive Director of Women in Cities International (WICI)
Marisa Canuto is the Executive Director of Women in Cities International
(WICI). She graduated from the Université de Montréal (Canada) with an
M.Sc in Criminology and has over 10 years of experience as a research
analyst and project manager. Since joining WICI, she has developed and
implemented various projects related to women’s safety and has contributed
to the development of research reports published by WICI.
Sra. Marisa CANUTO, Canadá
Directora general de Mujeres y Ciudades Internacional
Directora general de Mujeres y Ciudades Internacional, ella Graduada de la
Universidad de Montreal Canadá con una maestría en Criminología; tiene
más de 10 años de experiencia como investigadora y directora de proyectos.
Desde que se unió al WICI, ha desarrollado e implementado varios proyectos
relacionados con la seguridad de las mujeres y ha contribuido al desarrollo de
reportes de investigación publicados por el WICI.
***
Preliminary results from a 2007 global survey of 163 organisations working
on women's safety found that the tool most often used is the women’s safety
audit. This tool is described as a process which brings women together to
identify the factors in a specific physical environment that make them feel
unsafe to then propose solutions for improving these conditions.
Unfortunately, very few audits have ever been subjected to formal evaluation,
making it difficult to assess the overall effectiveness of its use. In order to
better understand what works in what context using the women’s safety
audit, Women in Cities International in partnership with UN-Habitat Safer
Cities Programme, has undertaken a comparative assessment of this tool.
The study includes a literature review that served as the base for developing

8e Colloque annuel du CIPC, Querétaro, Mexique
ICPC’s Eighth Annual Colloquium, Querétaro, Mexico
El 8o Coloquio Anual del CIPC, Querétaro, México
a sense of perceived good practice, as well as an analysis of 18 open-ended
interviews from organisations who have implemented safety audits across the
world. This presentation will cover the main findings of this assessment.

The Women’s Safety Audit:
A Universal Tool

Women in Cities International
• Exchange network of partners on issues
pertaining to gender equality and the
participation of women in cities
• Develop and promote policies / programs
– by creating and disseminating knowledge
– by facilitating ti information exchange
– by yproviding technical assistance
• Priority issue: Women’s Safety

Women’s Safety Audits (WSA):
A Universal Tool
• Description of Women’s Safety Audit Tool
• Main results from assessment on WSA by WICI
and UN-Habitat Safer Cities Programme
• Introduction to Status of Women Canada
project ‘Creating Safer Cities for Marginalized
Women and for Everyone’

Women’s Safety Audit
• Concept by METRAC
– Involves walking
through a physical
environment with a
checklist to identify
factors that cause
insecurity
– Making
recommendations and
bringing g about change

‘Six Principles of Design from
Women’s Point of View’ (City of Montreal)
1) Know where you are
and where you are
going
2) See and be seen

‘Six Principles of Design from
Women’s Point of View’ (City of Montreal)
3) Hear and be heard 4) Be able to get help

‘Six Principles of Design from
Women’s Point of View’ (City of Montreal)
5) Maintenance and planning
6) Act together
Photo by CISCSA
PROGRAMA REGIONAL
CIUDADES SIN
VIOLENCIA HACIA LAS
MUJERES, CIUDADES
SEGURAS PARA
TOD@S,
ROSARIO, ARGENTINA

WSA: What Works and Where?
• Study by WICI & UN-
Habitat t Safer Cities
Programme
• Goals:
– Identify what
works in what ht
contexts
– Identify concrete
outcomes from
the use of the
safety audit

Methodology
• Literature Review
• 18 survey interviews
– open-ended questions
– email, telephone and face-to-face
– from Africa (6), Canada (5), Europe
(3), India (2) and Latin America (2)

Limits of the study
• Different terms used for WSA
• Language barriers
• Time constraints (3 months)
• Different interpretation of
questions
• Not a representative sample

WSA: What Works and Where ?
- Reference guide for future WSA
- Highlights best practices and local
adaptations
- Demonstrates concrete outcomes
from the use of the tool
- Illustrates some of the range of
experiences, outcomes and challenges
in different settings

Successful Practices
• Focus on the local level
• Use expertise of residents
• Develop partnerships with local
governments
• Local diagnosis of women’s safety
• A process with several steps

Positive Outcomes
• Changes to the physical environments
• Strategy for raising awareness
• Empowering participants
B ildi t th i d i i
• Building, strengthening and increasing
partnerships with local governments

Negative Outcomes
• Difficulty involving marginalized
groups
• Lack of follow-up or evaluation
• Limited resources / support for
implementation
• Loss of gender focus

Future directions
• Need for greater evaluation of women’s
audit experiences
• Need for evaluation on the impact of WSA
– Changes to environment
– Changes to policy
– Changes to use of space
– Changes to levels l of crime/victimization
i i i i
• Need for adaptation to private spaces (i.e.
housing units, etc.)
• Collecting evidence of the use of WSA with
marginalized groups

Creating Safer Communities for
Marginalized Women and Everyone
• Funded by Status of
Women Canada
• Goals:
– build partnerships
between women’s groups
and municipalities
i – Implementation of safety
audit walks
– Increase the active
participation of
marginalized women
– Disseminate lessons
learned

Implementing partners
• Aboriginal Women
– Women of the Dawn
– Regina, Saskatchewan
• Immigrant and visible minority
women
– Catholic Crosscultural Services
– Peel, Ontario
• Elderly women
– Centre des aînés de Gatineau
– Gatineau, Quebec
• Women with disabilities
i
– Action femmes handicapées
(Montréal)
– Montréal, Québec

Main Activities
November 2007 to March 2009
• Safety audits training
i
• Training on building partnerships with local governments
• Training on local diagnosis
• Implementation of safety audits (3 audits per group)
April 2009 to August 2010
• Implementation of recommendations of safety
approaches
April 2010 to November 2010
• Report on the findings of the project

Some adaptations to WSA
- Culturally ll sensitive
- Additional factor assessed:
Accessibility
- Translation of tools in
several languages
- Use of tape recorder
during WSA
- Checklist adapted to needs
- Different methods used to
increase the participation
of women

For more information on
WICI
Women in Cities International
465 Saint-Jean, suite 803
Montréal, Québec, H2Y 2R6
Tel.:514-861-6123
6123
Fax.: 514-288-8763
www.womenincities.org
i i
www.mujeresyciudades.org
www.femmesetvilles.org