Womens’ and girls’ safety in public places is undermined by sexual harassment, yet the environmental correlates of risk remain poorly understood. Using the environmental criminology framework, this mixed-method research aims to map and analyze reported incidents of sexual harassment in Delhi, India. Spatial and descriptive analyses revealed high concentrations and patterns of significant situational factors associated with both physical and nonphysical sexual harassment incidents. Field observations of these hotspot locations provided valuable insights into the social environment and dynamics that contribute to sexual harassment. The findings have implications for place-based situational prevention strategies to address sexual harassment incidents worldwide.
Al-SabbaghT. A.LiY.LeeY. J.El KenawyA. M. (2024). Land use and sexual harassment: Ageospatial analysis based on the volunteer HarassMap-Egypt. Geographical Research, 62(1), 147–164. https://doi.org/10.1111/1745-5871.12619
2.
AmaralS.BorkerG.FialaN.KumarA.PrakashN.SviatschiM. M. (2025). Sexual harassment in public spaces and police patrols: Experimental evidence from urban India. The Quarterly Journal of Economics, 140(4), 3191–3231.
3.
AnithaS.LewisR. (2018). Gender-based violence in university communities: Policy, prevention, and educational initiatives. Policy Press.
AvendañoA. A. M.Romero-MendozaM.Gómez San LuisA. H. (2022). From harassment to disappearance: Young women’s feelings of insecurity in public spaces. PLoS One, 17(9), e0272933.
6.
BhattacharyyaR. (2015). Understanding the spatialities of sexual assault against Indian women in India. Gender, Place & Culture, 22(9), 1340–1356. https://doi.org/10.1080/0966369X.2014.969684
7.
BiswasP.DasK.Das ChatterjeeN. (2021). Analysis of eve-teasing potential zones using geospatial technologies and AHP: A study in Midnapore town, West Bengal, India. GeoJournal, 86(3), 1043–1072. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10708-019-10106-1
8.
BivandR. (2010). Exploratory spatial data analysis. In FischerM. M.GetisA. (Eds.), Handbook of applied spatial analysis (pp. 219–254). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-03647-7
9.
BowmanC. G. (1993). Street harassment and the informal ghettoization of women. Harvard Law Review, 106(3), 517–580. https://doi.org/10.2307/1341656
10.
BowmanK. (2022). Gender-based violence against women users of public transport in Saltillo, Coahuila, Mexico. Journal of Gender Studies, 31(2), 216–230. https://doi.org/10.1080/09589236.2021.1915753
11.
BoyerK. (2023). Sexual harassment and claiming the right to everyday life. In BoyerK.EavesL. E.FluriJ. (Eds.), Activist feminist geographies (pp. 120–144). Policy Press. https://doi.org/10.56687/9781529225129-010
12.
BrantinghamP. J.BrantinghamP. L. (1984). Patterns in crime. Macmillan.
13.
BrantinghamP. L.BrantinghamP. J. (1993). Nodes, paths and edges: Considerations on the complexity of crime and the physical environment. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 13(1), 3–28. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0272-4944(05)80212-9
14.
BrickellK.CuomoD. (2020). Geographies of violence: Feminist geopolitical approaches. In AninditaD.HopkinsP.JohnstonL.OlsonE.SilvaM. J. (Eds.), Routledge handbook of gender and feminist geographies (pp. 297–307). Routledge.
CeccatoV. (2017). Women’s victimisation and safety in transit environments. Crime Prevention and Community Safety, 19(3–4), 168–182. https://doi.org/10.1057/s41300-017-0024-5
17.
CeccatoV.Loukaitou-SiderisA. (2021). Sexual harassment in transit environments among college students in the# MeToo era: Reporting evidence from six continents. American Journal of Criminal Justice, 46(1), 107–129. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12103-020-09583-9
18.
CeccatoV.NallaM. (2020). Crime and fear in public places: Towards safe, inclusive and sustainable cities (p. 484). Taylor & Francis.
19.
ChafaiH. (2021). Everyday gendered violence: Women’s experiences of and discourses on street sexual harassment in Morocco. The Journal of North African Studies, 26(5), 1013–1032. https://doi.org/10.1080/13629387.2020.1743184
20.
ChubinF. (2014). You may smother my voice, but you will hear my silence: An autoethnography on street sexual harassment, the discourse of shame and women’s resistance in Iran. Sexualities, 17(1–2), 176–193. https://doi.org/10.1177/1363460713511097
CohenL. E.FelsonM. (1979). Social change and crime rate trends: A routine activity approach. American Sociological Review, 44, 588–608. https://doi.org/10.2307/2094589
23.
CornishD. B.ClarkeR. V. (2016). The rational choice perspective. In WortleyR.TownsleyM. (Eds.), Environmental criminology and crime analysis (2nd ed., pp. 48–80). Routledge.
DelGrecoM.Ebesu HubbardA. S.DenesA. (2021). Communicating by catcalling: Power dynamics and communicative motivations in street harassment. Violence Against Women, 27(9), 1402–1426. https://doi.org/10.1177/1077801220927085
26.
DingH.Loukaitou-SiderisA.AgrawalA. W. (2020). Sexual harassment and assault in transit environments: A review of the English-language literature. Journal of Planning Literature, 35(3), 267–280. https://doi.org/10.1177/0885412220911129
27.
DolatabadE. J. (2019). An analysis of the phenomenon of physical street harassment with an ethnographic approach. Strategic Research on Social Problems, 8(2), 17–44. https://doi.org/10.22108/srspi.2019.116278.1388
28.
EkblomP. (2011). Deconstructing CPTED… and reconstructing it for practice, knowledge management, and research. European Journal on Criminal Policy and Research, 17, 7–28. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10610-010-9132-9
FairchildK. (2023). Understanding street harassment as gendered violence: Past, present, and future. Sexuality & Culture, 27(3), 1140–1159. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12119-022-09998-y
31.
FairchildK.RudmanL. A. (2008). Everyday stranger harassment and women’s objectification. Social Justice Research, 21(3), 338–357. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11211-008-0073-0
32.
FilebornB. (2019). Naming the unspeakable harm of street harassment: A survey-based examination of disclosure practices. Violence Against Women, 25(2), 223–248. https://doi.org/10.1177/1077801218768709
33.
FilebornB.O’NeillT. (2023). From “ghettoization” to a field of its own: A comprehensive review of street harassment research. Trauma, Violence, & Abuse, 24(1), 125–138. https://doi.org/10.1177/15248380211021608
34.
FilebornB.Vera-GrayF. (2017). “I want to be able to walk the street without fear”: Transforming justice for street harassment. Feminist Legal Studies, 25(2), 203–227. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10691-017-9350-3
35.
FitzgeraldL. F. (1990). Sexual harassment: The definition and measurement of a construct. In PaludiM. A. (Ed.), Ivory power: Sexual harassment on campus (pp. 21–44). State University of New York Press.
36.
GarcíaI.AlbelsonM.PuczkowskyjN.KhanS. M.Fagundo-OjedaK. (2022). Harassment of low-income women on transit: A photovoice project in Oregon and Utah. Transportation Research Part D: Transport and Environment, 112,Article103466. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.trd.2022.103466
37.
GardnerC. B. (1995). Passing by: Gender and public harassment. University of California Press.
38.
GardnerN.CuiJ.CoiacettoE. (2017). Harassment on public transport and its impacts on women’s travel behaviour. Australian Planner, 54, 8–15. https://doi.org/10.1080/07293682.2017.1299189
39.
Garfias RoyoM.ParikhP.BelurJ. (2020). Using heat maps to identify areas prone to violence against women in the public sphere. Crime Science, 9(1), 1–15. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40163-020-00125-6
40.
GekoskiA.GrayJ. M.AdlerJ. R.HorvathM. A. (2017). The prevalence and nature of sexual harassment and assault against women and girls on public transport: An international review. Journal of Criminological Research, Policy and Practice, 3(1), 3–16. https://doi.org/10.1108/JCRPP-08-2016-0016
41.
GoffmanE. (1963). Embarrassment and social organization. In SmelserN. J.SmelserW. T. (Eds.), Personality and social systems (pp. 541–548). John Wiley & Sons.
42.
GroveN. S. (2015). The cartographic ambiguities of HarassMap: Crowdmapping security and sexual violence in Egypt. Security Dialogue, 46(4), 345–364. https://doi.org/10.1177/0967010615583039
43.
GruberJ. E. (1989). How women handle sexual harassment: A literature review. Sociology and Social Research, 74, 3–9.
44.
HardtS.StoecklH.WamoyiJ.RanganathanM. (2022). Sexual harassment in low- and middle-income countries: A qualitative systematic review. Trauma, Violence, & Abuse, 24(5), 3346–3362. https://doi.org/10.1177/15248380221127255
45.
HargittaiE. (2020). Potential biases in big data: Omitted voices on social media. Social Science Computer Review, 38(1), 10–24. https://doi.org/10.1177/0894439318788322
46.
HenryH. M. (2017). Sexual harassment in the Egyptian streets: Feminist theory revisited. Sexuality & Culture, 21(1), 270–286. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12119-016-9393-7
47.
HerreraJ.McCarthyB. (2023). Street harassment interpretations: An exploration of the intersection of gender and race/ethnicity, and mediator variables. Violence Against Women, 29(3–4), 453–474. https://doi.org/10.1177/10778012221094067
48.
HickmanS. E.MuehlenhardC. L. (1997). College women's fears and precautionary behaviors relating to acquaintance rape and stranger rape. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 21(4), 527–547.
49.
HutsonA. C. F.KruegerJ. C. (2019). The harasser’s toolbox: Investigating the role of mobility in street harassment. Violence Against Women, 25(7), 767–791. https://doi.org/10.1177/1077801218804100
50.
Infante-VargasD.BoyerK. (2022). Gender-based violence against women users of public transport in Saltillo, Coahuila, Mexico. Journal of Gender Studies, 31(2), 216–230. https://doi.org/10.1080/09589236.2021.1915753
51.
IsonJ.ForsdikeK.HenryN.HookerL.TaftA. (2024). “I’ll try and make myself as small as possible”: Women and gender-diverse people’s safety work on public transport. Violence Against Women, 31(11), 2830–2852. https://doi.org/10.1177/10778012241270279
52.
JafarovT.CampbellS.RojasW. S. (2014). AZE: Rapid assessment on sexual harassment in the Baku metro rail—Final report. Asian Development Bank.
KearlH. (2010). Stop street harassment: Making public places safe and welcoming for women. Praeger.
58.
KimE. (2020). Exploring the relationship between geolocated social network service text and crime [Doctoral thesis]. University College London. UCL Discovery. https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10092339
KumariS. (2025). Mapping the geography of crime against women in the union territory of Jammu & Kashmir: A geospatial analysis. SN Social Sciences, 5(5),Article55. https://doi.org/10.1007/s43545-025-01089-7
61.
KumariS.KumarN.SharmaA. (2025). Mapping the dynamics of crime against women in India: a spatio-temporal analysis. Belgeo [Online], 1. https://doi.org/10.4000/133q5
62.
KumariS.SiotraV. (2023). Indian Females in the twenty-first century: How they have fared? An analysis using geospatial techniques. GeoJournal, 88(4), 4279–4295. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10708-023-10865-y
63.
LahsaeizadehA.YousefinejadE. (2012). Social aspects of women’s experiences of sexual harassment in public places in Iran. Sexuality & Culture, 16(1), 17–37. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12119-011-9097-y
64.
LeaS. G.D’SilvaE.AsokA. (2017). Women’s strategies addressing sexual harassment and assault on public buses: An analysis of crowdsourced data. Crime Prevention and Community, 19(3–4), 227–239. https://doi.org/10.1057/s41300-017-0028-1
65.
LentonR.SmithM. D.FoxJ.MorraN. (1999). Sexual harassment in public places: Experiences of Canadian women. Canadian Review of Sociology/Revue canadienne de sociologie, 36(4), 517–540. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1755-618X.1999.tb00962.x
66.
LewisS.SaukkoP.LumsdenK. (2021). Rhythms, sociabilities and transience of sexual harassment in transport: Mobilities perspectives of the London underground. Gender, Place & Culture, 28(2), 277–298. https://doi.org/10.1080/0966369X.2020.1734540
67.
MacmillanR.NierobiszA.WelshS. (2000). Experiencing the streets: Harassment and perceptions of safety among women. Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency, 37(3), 306–322. https://doi.org/10.1177/0022427800037003003
68.
MadanM.NallaM. K. (2016). Sexual harassment in public spaces: Examining gender differences in perceived seriousness and victimization. International Criminal Justice Review, 26, 80–97. https://doi.org/10.1177/1057567716639093
69.
MagleyV. J. (2002). Coping with sexual harassment: Reconceptualizing women’s resistance. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 83(4), 930–946. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.83.4.930
70.
MohamedA. A.StanekD. (2020). The influence of street network configuration on sexual harassment patterns in Cairo. Cities, 98,Article102583. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cities.2019.102583
71.
Moya-GarófanoA.MoyaM.MegíasJ. L.Rodríguez-BailónR. (2020). Social perception of women according to their reactions to a stranger harassment situation (piropo). Sex Roles, 83(3), 163–178. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11199-019-01103-2
72.
NatarajanM. (2016). Rapid assessment of “eve teasing” (sexual harassment) of young women during the commute to college in India. Crime Science, 5(1),Article6. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40163-016-0054-9
73.
NatarajanM.SchmuhlM.SudulaS.MandalaM. (2017). Sexual victimization of college students in public transport environments: A whole journey approach. Crime Prevention and Community Safety, 19, 168–182. https://doi.org/10.1057/s41300-017-0025-4
74.
NeupaneG.Chesney-LindM. (2014). Violence against women on public transport in Nepal: Sexual harassment and the spatial expression of male privilege. International Journal of Comparative and Applied Criminal Justice, 38(1), 23–38. https://doi.org/10.1080/01924036.2013.794556
75.
PainR. (1991). Space, sexual violence and social control: Integrating geographical and feminist analyses of women’s fear of crime. Progress in Human Geography, 15(4), 415–431. https://doi.org/10.1177/030913259101500403
76.
ParishW. L.DasA.LaumannE. O. (2006). Sexual harassment of women in urban China. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 35(4), 411–425.
77.
PoynerB. (1986). A model for action: Situational crime prevention. Her Majesty’s Stationery Office.
78.
PryorJ.MeyersA. (2000). Men who sexually harass women. In SchlesingerL. B. (Ed.), Sexual harassment: Theory, research, and treatment (pp. 207–228). CRC Press. https://doi.org/10.1201/9781420039009
79.
PryorJ. B. (1998). The likelihood to sexually harass scale. In DavisC. M.YarberW. H.BausermanR.SchreerG.DavisS. L. (Eds.), Sexuality-related measures a compendium (pp. 295–298). Sage Publications.
80.
QuinonesL. M. (2020). Sexual harassment in public transport in Bogotá. Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, 139, 54–69. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tra.2020.06.018
81.
R Core Team. (2023). R: A Language and Environment for Statistical Computing. R Foundation for Statistical Computing. https://www.R-project.org/
SolymosiR.BowersK. J. (2018). The role of innovative data collection methods in advancing criminological understanding. In BruinsmaG. J. N.JohnsonS. D. (Eds.), The Oxford handbook of environmental criminology (pp. 210–237). Oxford University Press.
85.
SolymosiR.KimE. (2025). Advancing perspectives in urban crime studies: Computational techniques and new forms of data. In OberwittlerD.WickesR. (Eds.), Handbook on cities and crime (pp. 141–163). Edward Elgar Publishing.
86.
TukeyJ. W. (1977). Exploratory data analysis (Vol. 2). Addison-Wesley.
87.
UN-Habitat. (2018). SDG indicator 11.7.1 training module: Public space. United Nations Human Settlement Programme (UN-Habitat)
ValentineG. (1989). The geography of women’s fear. Area, 21(4), 385–390.
91.
Vera-GrayF. (2016, September). Men's stranger intrusions: Rethinking street harassment. Women's Studies International Forum, 58, 9–17. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.wsif.2016.04.001
92.
Vera-GrayF.KellyL. (2020). Contested gendered space: Public sexual harassment and women’s safety work. International Journal of Comparative and Applied Criminal Justice, 44(4), 265–275. https://doi.org/10.1080/01924036.2020.1732435
93.
WaltonK. A.PedersenC. L. (2022). Motivations behind catcalling: Exploring men’s engagement in street harassment behaviour. Psychology & Sexuality, 13(3), 689–703. https://doi.org/10.1080/19419899.2021.1909648
94.
WeiB.CuiZ.WuQ.GuoS.LiW.WangX.QiuW. (2025). Investigating the spatiotemporally heterogeneous effects of macro and micro built environment on sexual violence against women: A case study of Mumbai. Humanities and Social Sciences Communications, 12(1), 1–17. https://doi.org/10.1057/s41599-025-04838-4
95.
YuS. S. V.SmithM. J. (2014). Commuters using public transit in New York city: Using area-level data to identify neighbourhoods with vulnerable riders. Security Journal, 27, 194–209. https://doi.org/10.1057/sj.2014.6
