Latin America: Making Cities Safer
Violence is now one of the five main causes of death in Latin America. While young men remain the major victims of street violence, women in too many public spaces fear rape, murder, kidnapping or sexual harassment. Many cities lag behind in providing even basic safety measures, such as well-lit streets and sufficient policing.
In Rosario, Argentina, and Lima, Peru, the organizations CISCSA and Flora Tristan used a UN Trust Fund grant to pilot ways of making cities safer for women. They supported local women’s groups to brief city planners and the media on the issues women face. As a result, the city of Rosario revised municipal plans to include steps to curtail violence, such as the installation of bus shelters allowing passengers clear visibility of the surrounding area. In Lima, city officials also took immediate action by improving lighting on streets and in parks, and by fencing off empty lots.
As part of the initiative, CISCSA produced a guide to gender-sensitive municipal planning called Tools for the Promotion of Safe Cities from a Gender Perspective. The original project has been expanded into a global UNIFEM flagship programme.
