The gender gap was striking throughout all ages when it comes to the perception of public safety at night. (Yonhap)
SEOUL, Dec. 29 (Korea Bizwire) — Roughly 6 in10 South Korean women in their 20s and 30s feel unsafe in the streets at night, while only 10 percent of men in the same age group said likewise.
Women in their 20s felt most uncomfortable in the streets at night (58.7 percent) among all age groups. They were followed by women in their 30s (56.3 percent), according to the biennial social survey conducted by Statistics Korea.
In contrast, only 12.4 percent of men in their 20s felt unsafe at night, the lowest record out of all gender and age groups. They were followed by men in their 30s (15.3 percent).
The gender gap was striking throughout all ages when it comes to the perception of public safety at night.
Among 13- to 19-year-olds, 59.9 percent of women felt unsafe at night. Only 14.4 percent of young men felt likewise.
Among those in their 40s (52.2 percent women, 17.7 percent men) and 50s (48.6 percent women, 17.7 percent men), women outstripped men by more than 30 percentage points when it comes to feeling unsafe outdoors during nighttime.
Both men (38.7 percent) and women (45.7 percent) picked news reports on various crimes as the primary reason for feeling unsafe at night.
The second reason, in contrast, differed by gender.
Women picked a lack of people at night as the second reason for feeling unsafe at night (26.6 percent), while men chose a lack of streetlamps, CCTV cameras, and other safety facilities (25.3 percent) as the problem.
H. M. Kang (hmkang@koreabizwire.com)
