The Shadow of Sexual Assault in Mexican Women from a Criminological and Gender Perspective
Cynthia Valeria Díaz Díaz , Facultad de Estudios Superiores Iztacala de la Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México
Dr. Alba Luz Robles Mendoza , Facultad de Estudios Superiores Iztacala de la Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México
Dr. Tania Esmeralda Rocha Sánchez , Facultad de Psicología de la Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México
Dr. Zoraida García Castillo , Facultad de Medicina de la Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México
Abstract
The perception of sexual aggression analyzed from the criminological theory of Fear of Crime by Kenneth Ferraro, indicates that women tend to have a greater rate of fear regarding the possibility of experiencing a sexual assault. The purpose of this research was to identify the perception of fear of sexual crime in Mexican women based on this criminological theory and with a gender analysis. To this end, a qualitative study with a hermeneutic-type phenomenological design was carried out. 30 college-educated women between 18 and 35 years old, residing in Mexico City, were interviewed. The results are organized in four categories: 1. Gender roles and sexual offenses, 2. Perceptions related to fear of sexual crime, 3. Spaces and conditions of risk, and 4. Actions in the face of fear of sexual crime. It was identified that the female body is perceived as more vulnerable, as an objectified item based on gender roles, in situations of risk of sexual aggression. Also, a series of escalating assaults related to the fear of femicide were found, with sexual rape being a perceived antecedent. The criminological theory about fear of crime was an analytical tool that allowed the analysis of sexual crime from a psycho-social and gender approach, depathologizing the aggressive act, while presenting proposals for criminal policy and crime prevention in order to improve the quality of life of women.
Keywords:
Fear of Crime; Sexual Crime; Gender; Rape, Female Body
