The perception of insecurity in a rural environment from a gender perspective. The case of Flor de Coco in Colima, México

Abstract

This research aims to analyze the perception a group of women from a highly marginal, rururban village have of public spaces and the context of their dwellings from a gender perspective. The investigation is part of the Housing and Women Project: Living spaces for the development of families headed by women in the Flor de Coco community, Municipality of Armería, Colima, Mexico, financed by the INMUJERES-CONACyT fund. For the study, a mixed methods approach was used that involved

field data, interviews, workshops and the analysis of the immediate surroundings of eight dwellings headed by women. The results show that there are ten types of insecurity from the point of view of the women: drug addiction, alcoholism, robberies and assaults, gender violence, gangs, insecurity due to lack of lighting, lack of surveillance, risk of landslides, transportation problems, floods and rising river waters. As pointed out by Nieto Morales and Esquivel Hernández, Soto Villagrán, Ortiz Escalante, Col-lectiu Punt 6, and Farapi, the absence of planning with a gender perspective of the urban form and its public space affect women more, which makes them more vulnerable.