Science at UM [S02-ep14]: From feelings of insecurity to the Eco meeting

[Podcast] - Published on February 2, 2023 in Faculties, Schools, and Institutes, Science-Society

This week on A l’UM la science, Marie-Christine Sordino, director of the criminal law and forensic science team, discusses her research on feelings of insecurity in Montpellier. At the end of the program, François Mirabel, dean of the Faculty of Economics, presents the upcoming conference-debate for Les rendez-vous de l’Eco. The program is broadcast on Divergence FM-93.9 every Wednesday at 6 p.m.

This weekend, after a late aperitif at a friend's house, as I was about to cross the city center to go home, a couple who had also been invited offered to walk me home. I have always enjoyed walking around town at night, so I politely declined the offer and received in return a look that conveyed not only incomprehension but also concern and even reproach, as if I were about to drive my car with a blood alcohol level of 0.4%.

– Are you sure? It's late, and what neighborhood are you in?

– Oh yes, and besides... No, really, it's not safe. We'll take you home.

So if driving while intoxicated is objectively dangerous for oneself and others, why is walking home alone after 11 p.m. considered by some to be risky behavior? What fuels or does not fuel a feeling of insecurity to the point of making it an objective reality for some? And me? Am I blind to danger by insisting on walking home? And what about men in all this? Why didn't the same couple offer to drive Karim home, who had left a few minutes earlier?

Faced with all these questions, once I got home "safe and sound," I decided to find out a little more about insecurity in this city, where I have been living for almost 20 years now. After a few clicks, I came across this article in Midi Libre dated January 9, entitled " Feeling of insecurity in Montpellier: places frequently avoided by residents, mostly women ." Journalist Laurie Zenon bases her article on two surveys conducted in the central district of Montpellier in 2022 by the city in partnership with the French Forum for Urban Security and the University of Montpellier. Our guest is Marie Christine Sordino, a law professor, researcher, and director of the criminal law and forensic science team in Montpellier. She led part of this survey.

At the end of the program, we will welcome Professor François Mirabel, who will present the next Eco event organized on February 8 by the Faculty of Economics in partnership with Midi Libre on the theme: Energy transition, levers for citizen action.

At UM Science, you have the program, so let's get started!

Co-production: Divergence FM / University of Montpellier
Host: Lucie Lecherbonnier
Interview: Lucie Lecherbonnier / Aline Périault
Reporting and editing: Aline Périault
Production: Tom Chevalier

Listen to the program “A l’UM la science” on Divergence FM 93.9