Urban spaces are the spatial embodiment of gender discriminations, in other words, cities are made for a very specific kind of citizen: the white, cis, male. This premise reflects on the many aspects of socioeconomic life that determine the shape of buildings, the accessibility of public transportation, the size of the roads or the distribution of schools. Most importantly it reflects priorities in political agendas which tend to deepen existing oppressions if not analyzed carefully.

In this case we propose an analysis of security policies from a gender perspective. Men and women have different fears and different sources of insecurity. However, “men” and “women” are not full categories in the sense that white and black women have different anxieties, as well as immigrants or nationals, and many other categorizations. Leslie Kern (2021) has noted that white women fear rape and sexual harassment in the public spaces, while racialized women fear harassment by public authorities (security forces and institutions). Hence, implementing security policies based only on the white woman experience (like enhancing illumination in the street, or installing security cameras) may result in criminalizing oppressed minorities.

We will apply intersectionality to understand how fear is perceived and how on many occasions it is fueled by security policies that only consider the more privileged positions. In addition, it may reduce the spaces where women can be citizens equal in rights, which means institutions limit their citizenship.