I wrote about the appalling but familiar statistics on violence against women, and of women's fear which often keeps women at home. This makes women's fear an issue for all of us.

Fearful women stay home when they have a choice, keep their children home, eat out and shop less, and withdraw the helping roles they traditionally devote to the community, diminishing the whole community economically as well as psychologically.

I wrote about a meeting held at the YWCA with Linda MacLeod, author of the secretary of state-sponsored report The City for Women: No Safe Place -- a meeting of representatives from about 30 community groups, from Media Watch to the Vancouver police.

This broad a range of concerned community groups meeting was a first for Vancouver which, despite having the longest history in Canada of support work, is also the least co-ordinated in that work.

But that was last week.

This week is for the good news -- some projects that are already under way in Canada.

@@ A group called METRAC in Toronto, made up of a wide variety of community groups under the umbrella of the municipal government, has implemented a number of initiatives, among which are "safety audits" of the city. These raise awareness of the safety characteristics of an ongoing number of locations over an extended period of time. By identifying what feels good or bad about any given area, major improvements can be made that may cost next to nothing: Could a spotlight be installed to light that dark alleyway?

@@ Toronto's Safe City Committee has passed a bylaw whereby women can park on the street at night in non-parking zones if they are working late and the only alternative is underground parking.

@@ In Montreal, community groups have identified areas where violence is most likely to occur.

@@ In Halifax, police have instituted a twist on "neighbor watch," whereby the phone numbers of households are grouped together by neighborhood and filed into police computers, so that they can be notified of property crime in the neighborhood and advised how to protect themselves.

@@ In Edmonton, 53 neighborhoods have been evaluated on crime levels and a program instituted to encourage people to leave their porch lights on at night. Crime escalates dramatically in dark neighborhoods, and the hydro authority was enlisted to help, estimating that the cost of such a move would be a mere $1.53 per month per household.

@@ In Thunder Bay, harassment areas for women at the campus were mapped out, with plans to extend this to the whole community.

@@ In Red Deer, following a rash of crime, a "cabwatch" program has been started, in which cab drivers are asked to drop in on grocery and convenience stores -- a strong community-building initiative.

@@ Some communities have started storefront policing programs, and in other areas mail carriers have been asked to watch households carefully, making sure mail has been take in.

@@ Avon of Canada has expressed interest in giving its representatives information about community support groups, to redistribute to their clients if necessary.

These are just a few, and just the beginning.

Have a happy Thanksgiving [Monday Oct 8th in Canada --tp].

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