Safety Of Women In The Contemporary Public Space Of Belgrade And Impact Of Feminist Studies To The Urban Safety Aspect Cover Image

Безбедност жена у савременом јавном простору Београда и допринос феминистичких студија аспекту урбане безбедности
Safety Of Women In The Contemporary Public Space Of Belgrade And Impact Of Feminist Studies To The Urban Safety Aspect

Author(s): Nataša Danilović Hristić
Subject(s): Gender Studies
Published by: Institut za noviju istoriju Srbije
Keywords: women; feminism; urban safety; fear; public spaces; Belgrade

Summary/Abstract: Focusing on the topic of urban safety, as one of the basic qualities of urban life, inevitably leads to further research on how women feel in urban environments, and also in what manner feminist scholarship and movements exerted their influence upon the development of relevant theory and practice. Although women make up a significant part of the population particularly in the cities, the fact that they had to obtain by force, their right to freedom and use of space, in the sense of their mobility, education, work and leisure time, they still they still feel exposed, excluded or endangered when certain urban spaces are concerned. Much earlier than the profession became interested in issue of urban safety, feminist studies were the ones who pointed the issue out and initiated certain actions that have later on been accepted and supported on a wider scale. Public spaces safety and minimizing threats to the public order are of the utmost significance for the communities aspiring to deserve the epithet of sustainability, and the failure to provide this leads to urban dysfunction, devaluates their „value“, leads to minimized or improper use. Preventive measures implemented within the sphere of urban planning and design can contribute to the quality of urban spaces and to the comfort of their users. Feminist movements, which have made a significant move in the research of this topic, started with the criticism of city as an environment which was not fully adapted to the needs of women, and further through studies, conferences organized and concrete actions in space, succeeded in getting the profession and the officials interested in it.

  • Issue Year: 2012
  • Issue No: 3
  • Page Range: 381-404
  • Page Count: 24
  • Language: Serbian