By Denise Davy, CBC News
Posted: Dec 3, 2012 7:20 AM ET
Last Updated: Dec 3, 2012 7:18 AM ET
If you're a woman who has experienced violence, your world is a lot smaller than the one most people who live in Hamilton experience. Parks, corner stores and even buses can be off limits much of the time because of the fear of being attacked.
But even for those in the city who have not been victims of a violent crime, the streets of Hamilton don't always feel safe, according to preliminary findings from a safety audit.
Only 18 per cent of respondents to the survey said they feel safe walking at night. More than one third said there are times when they won't take the bus or walk through a park in Hamilton.
Those findings are from a community safety audit being conducted of Hamilton's streets and services through a $200,000 grant awarded to Interval House by Status of Women Canada.
The goal of the two-year survey is to look at how safe the community is through a gender-based analysis for the purposes of programming and planning decisions. Results of the survey are to be presented to local leaders and government officials next spring.
Clare Freeman, executive director of Interval House shelter for abused women, said they hope the results will lead to the development of a safety toolkit that will include a checklist of things, such as burned-out street lights that need to be fixed, that would make neighbourhoods safer.
Freeman said she was surprised at some of the results, including one that showed only 68 per cent of respondents said they felt Hamilton was a safe place to live.
'If people are modifying their behaviour out of fear, and it's affecting things like bus ridership or whether people go to a new recreation centre, the city needs to know that.'— Clare Freeman, Interval House
"It's about being able to walk out the front door whenever you want and feel safe," said Freeman, who has been working on the survey with project co-ordinator Julia Vincent.
Freeman said a gender analysis of safety as it pertains to women is important, in that it provides direction to future planning.
"It's important because if people are modifying their behaviour out of fear, and it's affecting things like bus ridership or whether people go to a new recreation centre, the city needs to know that," said Freeman.
Around 300 people have completed the survey so far and only 27 per cent are male. Interval House is hoping to have 500 respondents by the time the survey is finished next month, including more feedback from males.
Results also showed that the majority of women who have been victims of violence won't live in an apartment building and avoid taking their children to a park or recreation centre because "they don't think they can protect them." Some women said they even avoided certain streets because they feel they'll be harassed.
Fewer than half said they feel safe going to a corner store. Some even avoid social service agencies for fear of either meeting the person who assaulted them or being assaulted again.
"It shows what impact violence has on the lives of women," said Freeman.
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