Gendering Moscow: How to Minimize Urban Risks for Females?

Key words: urban risks, Moscow, women, feminist geography UN Sustainable Development Goals aim at “providing universal access to safe, inclusive and accessible, green and public spaces, in particular for women and children, older persons and persons with disabilities” (UN, 2020). Over the past years, Moscow has seen an increase in the number of sexual assaults against women, especially rape and attempted rape (Moskvich Mag, 2019). However, the Russian authorities tend to disregard sexual abuse not to mention implementing measures to adequately address it. There also exists social stigma denouncing victims of sexual assaults. Consequently, only 10-12% of those targeted report attacks to the police with about 80% of victims suppressing abuse from the people they are closest to (Kholshchevnikova, 2011; Safonova, 2016). This state of affairs is supported by academia research showing high levels of latency of rape and attempted rape in Russia (Kameneva, 2009). The theoretical basis of research derives from the feminist geography which is applicable in the context of both “the politics of redistribution and the politics of recognition” (Fraser, 1997; Bondi & Rose, 2003). The analysis is based on semi-structured interviews with female representatives of vulnerable to criminal invasion districts of Moscow. Though this paper recognises that women are not singular targets of sexual attacks in Moscow, women are the focus of this study due to their exceptional vulnerability (Trench, Oc & Tiesdell, 1992). Last mile connection, walking through urban parks and presence in public spaces appear to be sources of constant fear and hyper-alertness for many women (Thornley, 2003; Braubach et al., 2017). A vast majority of particularly serious crimes in Moscow including sexual assaults against women repeatedly take place in very particular places (MK, 2019). Pattern consistency exploits certain urban areas to have long been conducive to crime and unsafe for women. The main aim of the research is to analyze infrastructure features of specific Moscow areas to establish proposals for minimizing urban risks for females.