ABSTRACT
This paper is an exploratory discussion based on diverse sources. It is intended to be a provocative and prodding discussion, based on a specific set of research experiences in the North East of England rather than any kind of overview or synthesis of other related work. It is not drawn in the main from research intended to assess the effectiveness of CCTV, but rather seeks to outline some of the contextual issues which are likely to impact upon the relationship between town centre CCTV schemes and initiatives aimed at enhancing the community safety of women in town centres. In particular, it seeks to challenge the taken for granted assumption that there would be no conflict between implementing CCTV and enhancing community safety. In relation to gender, it was assumed that CCTV would inevitably (a) be welcomed by women and (b) enhance their feeling of safety in, and by implication increase their usage of, town centres. This was despite, or perhaps because of, the fact that evaluative research specifically on this issue was never carried out in the area, and as far as we were aware, never referred to as an important line of enquiry. It is thus important to question from a research basis what are essentially common sense assumptions about the gendering of public safety and the intervention of CCTV technologies within that. To this end, the discussion that follows will re-interrogate data collected on gender, safety, and town centre usage as part of a series of policy orientated projects carried out in Cleveland before and during the implementation of CCTV schemes.
