Regarding a range of physical threats, women were more likely to express “noticeable fear” than their male counterparts. The largest difference emerged around sexual violence. While the majority of women feared being sexually assaulted, men does not. This difference is likely reflective of the rates at which women and men experience sexual assault.
On the other hand, women found the prospect of a physical attack more alarming than either a burglary or theft. While anxiety about the end of one’s life is only natural, psychologists indicate that this fear can cause deep emotional distress that results to self-destructive thoughts and behaviors.
Therefore, violence of any kind, even the most evidently harmless or negligible, confines women’s freedom of movement in that it carries with it a threat felt beyond the moment it occurs, and increases what many women say is their fear of being alone in public places especially during nighttime.
Since the disappearance of 22-year old working student, Jovelyn Galleno, many other women expressed fear of going alone during nighttime. In fact, some of them who work in the city proper and rented an apartment located in peripheries, considered as secluded and isolated areas of the city, said that they have changed their minds. Some other working women posted in social media that they chose not to commute or travel during nighttime but rather they will rent an apartment which is within walking distance only from their workplaces.
While we are promoting safe cities safe public places, we still lack basic and necessary infrastructures or systems to ensure both men and women’s safety in our public places.
Highly urbanized cities and emerging cities in our country should start installing CCTV cameras in strategic locations especially in areas with existing roads within their respective localities. These streets and roads should be adequately lighted during nighttime to keep it safer to all. Patrolling barangay tanod should be deployed to all purok within the barangay to ensure that their constituents are taken care of accordingly, and safeguard their safety. Our police force or any other similar peace and order monitoring bodies should at least conduct patrolling during nighttime. At least it is a deterrent against criminality and lawlessness.
Its high time and necessary for us to help create a safer environment and public places.