Per una critica di genere all’idea di sicurezza

• Main Author: Franca Garreffa
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Rosenberg & Sellier 2010-08-01
• Series: Quaderni di Sociologia
• Online Access: http://journals.openedition.org/qds/710

Nowadays, the safety issue should be addressed with a costantly improving attention because it may be defined in different ways, according to different points of view. The paper considers the safety issue from a gender perspective. This approach criticizes representations and discourses on safety, and the presented solutions (from alarmism to avoidance). At the same time, it aims at redefining the idea of risk, as well as to test the consistency, effectiveness and timeliness of safety policies. Public and political authorities (at least in Italy) incline to charge a list of external enemies (nomads, immigrants, terrorists, junkies, prostitutes, drug dealers) for unsecuring the citizens because of a real or supposed increase of crimes due to ‘deviant subjects’. Conversely, violence against women means violence from enemies within family or among friends, and it underlines a notable disparity between male and female citizens with respect to safety needs. The sense of insecurity of women has in fact a clear sexual feature: I assume that the sense of insecurity is neither neutral nor measurable according to objective risk criteria: being a male or a female means different ways of living the space, choices, relations, everyday life, liberty and autonomy. Men and women have not the same right to safety – as well as many other rights – nor they benefit the same safety conditions. Violence against women usually happens at home and does not refer to isolated episodes, but to daily incidents of men physically and morally abusing women; that makes it clear that safety and insecurity are aspects of social relations and such as should be addressed. This dimension of vulnerability takes for granted a sort of women “predisposition” to be abused for just being women. Therefore, it is crucial to analyse both how many women have abused, but the potential violence every woman might be exposed to, since every woman is vulnerable. At the same time, there is a need to criticize solutions to the safety problem that only belong to the realm of public order and crime fighting: women’s safety is rather a matter of everyday life. The undervaluation of the specific features of violence against women, and prevalent safety theories, do not satisfy women’s need for safety, and are clearly unaware of the realm where violence usually arises. Finally, present security policies based on women watching in public space – e.g. the patrols – are again tools for mastering women. The female gender is already under dependence, subjection, control; factors that just give rise to insecurity. Security policies, by-passing the origins of violence against female bodies, tend to perpetuate woman insecurity instead of fighting it, thus increasing women vulnerability as well as the sense of danger and fear.