Perceptions of Security, Victimization, and Coexistence: A Database from Cali, Colombia

This article addresses a key evidence gap in urban safety policy in Colombia: the absence of publicly accessible microdata that jointly measure victimization, perception of security, and probability of sanctions among socioeconomically vulnerable residents. It aims to provide a clean, linkable dataset that enables analysis of variations in these issues across demographic and territorial groups in Cali (recently classified as the 29th most dangerous city worldwide, with 1028 and 1065 homicides in 2024 and 2025, respectively). It reports face-to-face survey data collected from 22 July to 16 August 2024, at Sistema de Identificación de Potenciales Beneficiarios de Programas Sociales (SISBEN) service points. The final dataset includes 2139 adults (aged 18–95 years) and combines (i) primary responses on perceived safety (e.g., public space safety and surveillance cameras), perceived likelihood of sanction, victimization, and self-protection measures with (ii) selected sociodemographic and household characteristics drawn from SISBEN IV records. Individual-level linkage was implemented using respondent identification at interviews, yielding an integrated anonymized file suitable for replication and secondary analysis. The dataset enables distributive analyses of insecurity (e.g., by sex, age, and ethnicity—including Afro-descendant populations) within a policy-relevant target group and supports evaluation and targeting of local interventions by providing individual-level indicators.