Women's silence surrounding physical and sexual abuse in the home is attributable in part to the barriers preventing women from speaking about their homes as anything but sanctuaries. Prevailing myths about the home as haven are incorporated into the everyday thinking of criminologists and criminal justice personnel who primarily are men. Consequently, the feminist perspective that the home may be a dangerous place for women conflicts with the deeply ingrained and hostile beliefs that support the ideology of the home as man's haven. Women's reported fear of crime and the increasing evidence of their experiences of interpersonal violence from known assailants challenges prevailing theoretical explanations for the risk of victimization. The current approach on the part of U.S. policymakers and criminologists to reducing women's fear of criminal violence is misguided as it focuses on crime that is committed outside the home. 50 references