Perceptions of danger affect women's daily habits
Shelley Nelson / Knight Ridder
Newspapers (KRT)
DULUTH, Minn. - Kandis Storm of Duluth refuses live in fear.
Like many women, however, Storm is naturally cautious
because she doesn't want to become a victim.
It's an issue women live with and adjust their lives to
accommodate much more often than men, whether they realize it
or not.
"People are more aware of it now because of recent
incidents, but it's always out there," said Candy
Harshner, director of the Program Against Violence and Sexual
Assault in Duluth.
While women are nearly five times as likely as men to report
being victims of rape, attempted rape and other sexual
assaults, surveys show men are victims of all other violent
crime at higher rates than women, according to U.S Department
of Justice victimization surveys.
Nonetheless, it's women more often that not whom society
encourages to be extra careful about personal safety. An
Internet Web search for the terms "tips for women,
personal safety" brought up nearly 500,000 sites.
"Tips for men, personal safety" netted half that
number.
"My doors are always locked, no matter what time of day
it is," Storm said. "We have three dogs. I
wouldn't be without a dog. The blinds are closed in the
evening." As a longtime nurse, musician and a former
volunteer advocate for victims of sexual assault, Storm said
she learned to stay vigilant about her environment to protect
herself.
She's not alone.
In general, Tina Mohn of Proctor, Minn., said she feels
safe. But she still locks her doors, pays attention to her
surroundings, uses common sense about who she's with, and
carries pepper spray to ward off a potential attacker.
"I feel safer in Proctor than in the neighborhood where
I work," said Mohn, who works at the YWCA in downtown
Duluth. She said her perception is it's a more dangerous
place, but she doesn't know if it's the reality.
"Women definitely adjust their behavior," said
Beth Olson, an advocate with PAVSA. "They may not walk
alone at night. They go out with a crowd. They check their
car before they get in. They carry their keys in their
hand." Fear of violence tends to influence women's
way of thinking and limit movement, said Beth Bartlett, a
professor with the University of Minnesota-Duluth women's
studies program.
Storm said she won't let fear stand in the way of taking
a walk at night, but there are places she will avoid, like
the wooded area near her Gary home, and the boarding house
down the block where "peculiar people" sometimes
stay.
"I think women in general have a real heightened sense
of the potential for danger," Olson said. She said the
types of violence committed against women may influence that
heightened sense of awareness.
Mohn, who enjoys running and said she has done so alone many
times, admits she was grateful her husband, Coleman, joined
her for a run near their home on the morning of Dec. 2.
It was extremely dark when a man emerged from the side of
the street, Mohn reported to police. When Mohn and her
husband crossed the street, she said the man charged across
toward them. When they crossed the road again, he went back
in the direction he came, Mohn said.
"It terrified me," Mohn said. "It made me
feel unsafe."
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© 2004, Duluth News Tribune (Duluth, Minn.).
Visit the Web site of the News Tribune at
http://www.duluthsuperior.com
Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Information Services.
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