Crime, women and information and communications technologies : everyday management of insecurity in Santiago and Buenos Aires

english

2025

volume 57, issue 1

crime   fear of crime   information communications technologies (ICT)   Latin America   urban mobilities   women

Slovensko filozofsko društvo
(Obvezni izvod spletne publikacije)

In recent decades, crime has become a public concern and a daily issue in Latin America. While much research has focused on organized crime and crime prevention, less attention has been given to how crime affects the everyday lives of young women in cities. This study, based on interviews with women in Santiago, Chile, and Buenos Aires, Argentina, reveals that their primary concerns are street harassment and sexual crimes, which mainly impact their mobility in the city. Women avoid relying on mass media for information, instead turning to their mothers and grandmothers as primary sources of knowledge and fear. Chilean women express higher levels of concern, significantly restricting their activities, particularly leisure, compared to Argentine women. Despite these differences, women in both countries have adopted technologies for self-protection, although their lives re main deeply affected by the fear of crime.

07.07.2026