Abstract
The debate in acknowledging street harassment as an existing social problem renders
research necessary on the topic. Street harassment is said to occur when it takes place
in a public setting and is initiated by a stranger. Through this correlation research, we
aimed to establish the relationship between experiencing street harassment and fear of
victimization. A positive correlation between the experience of street harassment and
fear of victimization was hypothesized and a positive correlation between street
harassment and negative reaction to harassment was also hypothesized. Additionally,
the most recurring type of public harassing behaviors was identified as well. Two self
report questionnaires were administered; A gender based harassment scale assessing
the frequency of 8 harassing behaviors which ranged on a likert scale from 0 (never) to
4 (almost always) and a modified version of The Fear of Crime survey measuring fear
of victimization. These questionnaires were administered to a sample of 250 females
recruited via convenient sampling technique that had experienced street harassment
previously. Percentages, mode and Pearson’s Product correlation were used to
statistically analyze data. Results showed a significant, weak positive correlation
between street harassment and fear of victimization (r=.216, p<0.01) and a moderate
positive correlation between experiencing street harassment and negative reaction
towards harassment (r=.404, p<0.01). The most frequent harassing behavior was being
stared in a manner that made the victims uncomfortable with 98% of participants
experiencing it, followed by 83.5% of the participants experiencing non-verbal sounds.
Through this research, we were able to conclude street harassment does have negative
implications for women.
Saima Masoom Ali, Neelam Naz. (2016) EXPERIENCING STREET HARASSMENT AND FEAR OF VICTIMIZATION, Journal of Social Science and Humanities, Volume 55, issue 1.
-
Views
1038 -
Downloads
113
Article Details
Volume
Issue
Type
Language
