ABSTRACT
The objective of this chapter is to describe activities in Canada and around the world that relate to women’s urban safety. I try to analyse their relationship to the women’s movement: can they be considered part of the women’s movement and, if so, are they new spaces for feminist action? In order to answer these questions, I shall use two characteristics of social movements discussed in the Introduction to this book; first, the opposition to dominant norms and, second, the use of unconventional actions and/or structures to bring about social change. These raise very interesting questions in the case of the activities around women’s urban safety, as these activities seek close relationships with municipal governments but this, in itself, can be seen as an act of opposition to dominant norms. In addition, they usually employ unconventional structures and often use unconventional actions.
