STATE OF WOMEN IN CITIES 2012-2013 - UN-Habitat

STATE OF WOMEN IN CITIES 2012-2013
Figure 2.1.2
Perceptions of safety and security for women in cities
Percentage of respondents
Not safe at all
Relatively safe
Safe
Very safe
Bangalore
Johannesburg
Kampala
Kingston
Rio de Janeiro
Source: UN-Habitat Survey, 2012
(41 per cent) and Rio de Janeiro (41 per cent) all of which are
cities that have notable problems with urban violence. The only
city where people reported feeling ‘very safe’ in any significant
number was in Kampala (19 per cent) (Figure 2.1.2).
The importance of addressing violence in urban contexts
is widely recognised at city-wide, national and international
levels. In 2009, the Global Programme on Safe Cities Free
from Violence against Women was launched by UN-Habitat
in conjunction with UNIFEM (now subsumed under UN
Women). 68 This followed from UN-Habitat’s Safer Cities
Programme, which has supported local authorities in
developing countries to prevent crime and violence through
city-wide advocacy and training. 69 For example, Cebu in
the Philippines has introduced a host of initiatives to reduce
violence against women and is the first city in the country
to introduce a ‘Gender Code’ and in 2004 earned the UN-
Habitat award of ‘Women Friendly City’.
To date a number of countries have established women
only police stations in a bid to combat violence against
women, especially to encourage women to report crimes
perpetuated against them. The first women’s police station
(DDM - Delegacia da Mulher) was created in São Paulo, Brazil
in 1985 mainly in response to mass women’s demonstrations
demanding women’s rights. The legislation creating this police
station decreed that everyone working there had to be a woman
with the aim of reducing violence against women and charging
them with investigating and prosecuting violence against
women. By the mid-2000s, there were 125 women’s police
stations in the state of São Paulo, and 339 throughout Brazil,
with 475 units nationwide by 2010. 70 Similar developments
have been noted in Tanzania with the formation of the
Tanzania Police Female Network (TPFNet) leading to the
opening of gender desks in police stations, and in South
Africa. 71 The Philippines opened its first women-only police
stations in Manila in 2008.
Effective urban planning, design and governance from a
gender perspective can also enhance urban safety and security
in cities. This approach has also been referred to as Crime
Prevention through Environmental Design (CPTED) which
entails using a primarily spatial and design perspective to
reducing violence. 72 These might include public-private
partnerships, such as the ‘Adopt a Light’ initiative in Nairobi,
which since 2002, has illuminated key thoroughfares in and
around the capital’s major slums, generating revenue for the
scheme through selling advertising space on lampposts. 73
While these types of initiatives focus mainly on risk-reduction,
they have proved to be successful in reducing the incidence
of violence although it is also essential to combine these with
other projects that also address deep-seated gender inequalities.
Women’s organisations in partnership with inter alia
neighbourhoods, international agencies, cities and local
authorities, and central governments have also been active in
promoting innovative approaches to elimination of violence
against women. Women’s safety audits, for example, have
been used in several cities with reductions in the incidence of
violence against women being reported. The Bantay Banay
Campaign in the Philippines is another example which has
contributed to a significant reduction in cases of domestic
vilence. (See Box 2.1.5).
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