A Sense of Danger: Gender-Based Violence and the Quest for a Sensory Criminology

Abstract

This article responds to recent calls for a ‘sensory criminology’ by offering a multi-sensorial analysis of gender-based violence (GBV). We examine both the often-discussed external senses as well as the more marginalized internal senses and explore how emotion, the broader criminological ‘atmosphere’ of GBV and the shift in atmosphere during the Covid-19 pandemic are implicated in women’s experiences of street-based sexual harassment and sexual assault. By analysing over 140 stories of GBV during the Covid-19 lockdowns, we evidence the scope and value of a fully multi-sensory criminology.