Men's fear in public places: A Stockholm case study

While the Nordics have long acted as champions of gender equality, there is still a need for a more nuanced understanding of gendered differences in safety and well-being. A large body of research on masculinity and fear has found men to express fear in public space to a lesser extent than women, perpetuating a notion of men as ‘fearless’. In this study, we challenge this notion by seeking a better understanding of men's overall fear of victimization as well as how fear impacts their behavior where they live, in relation to places, people, and everyday routines. Using statistical methods, chi-square analysis and binary logistic regression, we investigate the nature of men's fear and the effect fear has on their lives using 20,781 answers from the 2020 Stockholm Safety Survey. Findings indicate that while men are generally less fearful than women, intersections between respondents' gender, income level, and ethnic background show a complementary picture. Foreign-born and low-income resident men expressed similar or even higher levels of neighborhood fear than women. Additionally, the drivers of men's general fear of crime and neighborhood-related fear were found to differ, where results for Swedish-born and foreign-born men show opposing patterns for each measure. Men who live in neighborhoods with more physical disorder and low social cohesion are also more likely to avoid places and engagement with people where they live, as well as changing routine activities. The paper finishes with recommendations for future research. • Foreign-born men report fear similar to women, men in low-income areas show significantly higher levels. • Foreign-born status and education relate negatively to personal fear of crime but positively to neighborhood fear. • Men in areas with high disturbances and low cohesion engage in avoidance behavior and adjust routines more often.