A new study has highlighted stark differences in the ways men and women perceive safety in public spaces, with men largely unaware of the tension women experience from non-criminal harassment.
While crime data has shown men are more likely to be victimised in a high-crime community, those surveyed tended to think only of women's safety, but in terms of extreme acts such as rape or murder.
Dr Chloe Keel, from Griffith University's School of Criminology and Criminal Justice, said men downplayed their own risk of victimisation, yet there was a disconnect in their understanding of what actually made women feel unsafe.
"The men in the study constructed themselves as the protectors from this mythical 'dark-figured stranger', wanting to protect their wives or immediate family members from random extreme criminal acts that are statistically quite rare, but more sensationalised in the media," Dr Keel said.
"Both women and men, however, overwhelmingly discussed risk in terms of the actions and behaviours of other men."
Women in the study described feelings of unease caused by common incivilities, which left them feeling it wasn't safe for them to be alone, or they didn't belong in public places such as parks or public transport.
"The things they're experiencing in public spaces aren't necessarily criminal acts, but more along the lines of harassment motivated by gender, religion or race," Dr Keel said.
"Some women reported modifying their behaviour, such as avoiding certain areas, travelling in groups or refraining from wearing religious head coverings."
The study raised questions about social norms and gender expectations, with Dr Keel suggesting the male participants may not have felt comfortable discussing their own fears of victimisation or vulnerability, due to masculinity perceptions.
Another possibility, she said, was that men simply didn't see harassment as a problem, or at least not one significant enough to so heavily impact women's daily lives.
"If men truly want women to feel safer in their communities, they need to recognise the actual threats women face on a daily basis, rather than the ones they currently believe to be the most pressing," Dr Keel said.
The full study 'Local gendered dynamics: a study of perceptions of risk in Australian high crime communities' has been published in Gender, Place and Culture.
