How Women in the Pacific Perceive and Reduce the Risk of Crime Victimisation

Abstract

In criminology, there is a strong body of literature that examines risks of crime victimisation and fear of crime. Conducted primarily in high-income countries and drawing on the analysis of crime and safety surveys, the research shows that fear of crime is often not directly associated with actual risk, and that there are gendered and age dimensions to the risks of victimisation and to fear of crime (e.g. Stanko 1997; Walklate 2017). A pilot study (Putt et al. 2025) conducted in 2024 in five countries in the Pacific region aimed to explore how women perceive their risk in terms of physical and online safety, including financial safety. In this In Brief, we summarise the main themes that emerged from the pilot study in relation to how women seek to protect themselves (and whether this seems to differ from men’s behaviour).