Women’s experiences of honour‑based violence and oppression in the local public environment

The project is based on the Swedish National Board of Housing, Building and Planning’s government commission. The Board has commissioned Mid Sweden University to conduct a study mapping how women with experience of honour-based contexts perceive the physical housing environment in their local area.

Several recent reports indicate that knowledge gaps exist regarding how civil society should work to prevent honour-based violence and oppression, how honour norms manifest in public spaces, and how honour-based violence affects children, people in mid-life, and the elderly. Furthermore, it appears that women’s experiences of living in an honour context, and their perception of safety or lack thereof in the public environment, have not been investigated in depth. However, research demonstrates that the physical and social environment of a residential area is significant to people’s sense of security. Several national and global sustainability goals address the outdoor environment and gender equality; it is therefore of the utmost importance to consider these goals in development work and research on honour-based violence and oppression in local environments.

Consequently, the commission includes using a qualitative study to examine how women with experience of living in an honour-contextual environment describe their experiences of safety and insecurity in relation to the public physical outdoor and indoor environment.

Only female participants were included in this study because research shows that women are generally more fearful of crime in public spaces than men, particularly regarding concerns about sexual offences, assault, and walking outside at night