The Cost of Fear: Why Most Safety Advice Is Sexist and How We Can Stop Gender-Based Violence - Softcover

Stone, Meg

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0807022721 ISBN 13: 9780807022726

Publisher: Beacon Press, 2026

Synopsis

Questionable advice to avoid violence, like “don’t go shopping alone,” comes mostly from the police or other men in authority. But gender-based violence is often enacted in the most intimate spheres of our lives, not when we’re out grocery shopping. To stop this violence, we need strategies that are just as intimate.

In The Cost of Fear, nationally recognized violence prevention expert Meg Stone helps readers separate fact from fiction. It’s full of practical, research-based strategies that readers can use to keep themselves and their communities safer. Increased safety comes from developing the skills to resist coercive control, especially from people we know or people in authority, not from complying with rigid rules or avoiding homeless people on the street.

This deeply researched book draws timely connections between personal safety and political change—from Latina organizers in California working to stop sexual violence against night shift janitorial workers to teenage girls who call out double standards.

Work to change laws and change people’s minds is essential, but without practical strategies, the change is incomplete. The Cost of Fear will show us how we can make safety choices that expand our worlds and contribute to the fight for social justice.

About this title

About the Author

Meg Stone is the Executive Director of IMPACT Boston, an abuse prevention and empowerment self-defense organization. Her writing has been published in Huffington Post, Newsweek, Washington Post, Boston Globe, Dame, and Ms. She has received numerous awards for her work over the past 30 years. Meg lives in Cambridge, MA, with her partner Mal and a shockingly large collection of musical theatre cast albums.

Edition details

• Publisher: Beacon Press
• Publication date: 2026
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0807022721
• ISBN 13: 9780807022726
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 232