Introduction

Abstract

The aim of the three-year European-wide research project “Gender-based Violence, Stalking and Fear of Crime” (2009-2011) was to verify this hypothesis and to collect, analyse and compare relevant data in five European countries. The EU project, which has been funded through the program “Prevention of and Fight against Crime” and initiated by the EU Commission on General Justice, Freedom and Security, was coordinated by the Department of Criminology at the Ruhr University Bochum in Germany. In addition, the consortium covers the University of Bologna, Jagiellonian University in Cracow/Poland, Universitát Autonoma de Barcelona/Spain and Keele University in the U.K.The victimisation of young women through sexual harassment, stalking and sexual violence, along with their fear of crime, and their need for support, were the subject of an online questionnaire made available at universities in Germany, Italy, Spain, Poland and Britain.

Keywords

• gender-based violence
• stalking
• fear of crime