Explaining fear of crime as fear of rape among college females: An examination of multiple campuses in the United States

Given the fact that women are less likely to experience crime victimization than males, researchers have been puzzled for decades as to why women experience higher levels of fear of victimization. Scholars such as Warr (1984) and Ferraro (1995, 1996) argue that the fear of rape that females experience shadows fear of other crime, as rape is viewed by females as a cotemporaneous offense that may lead to other offenses. The present study examines the impact of fear of rape on the overall fear of crime for men and women on college campuses. While women are significantly more fearful of crime prior to controlling for fear of rape, the findings indicate that once fear of rape is considered, women’s higher fear of other crimes seems to diminish such that there are either no sex differences in fear or men are more fearful than women. Relevant policy implications are discussed.