Australian women far less likely to find wolf-whistling unacceptable: survey

Australian women are less likely than others in other countries to consider social requests for sex unacceptable, according to a Perth universities survey.

One in 10 women say they are still being sexually harassed in the workplace. Source: AAP

Aussie women are far less likely to consider wolf-whistling and even being hit up for sex as unacceptable, a study on attitudes about sexual harassment suggests.

Two Perth universities have polled 1734 women from 12 countries, finding Australians will accept certain behaviours than others feel crosses the line.

Just 26 per cent of the Australians surveyed believed it was inappropriate for a man to ask them for sex at a social event.

But that's an absolute no-no for Egyptians with 100 per cent objecting, along with Indonesians (99 per cent), Japanese (97 per cent) and Portuguese women (88 per cent).

Only 25 per cent of Australian women thought wolf-whistling was inappropriate, compared to 98 per cent of Egyptian women.

However Aussie women are less forgiving when it comes to low-level stalking and mysterious gifts arriving in the mail.

The survey showed 64 per cent of Australian women do not appreciate a man showing up at places they are known to visit in the hope of an encounter.

And 74 per cent think it is inappropriate for a man to send them strange parcels.

The Italians were far more liberal there. Just seven per cent did not like the idea of men popping up as they went about their business and only 23 per cent thought it was not right for men to send them things.

Lead author Dr Lorraine Sheridan, from the School of Psychology at Curtin University, says the survey reveals varied perceptions of what constitutes inappropriate behaviour by men.

While the respondents, all female psychology undergraduates, agreed on the most overt inappropriate behaviours, such as forced sexual contact and death threats, there was little consensus about less explicit actions.

Co-author Dr Adrian Scott, from Edith Cowan University, says the results suggest culture may take precedence over personal interpretations when it comes to grey-area behaviours that are not obviously harmful or benign.

It also seems Aussie woman are generally happy for men to buy them a drink, with just 12 per cent objecting to that, compared to 71 per cent of Indonesians.

The study involved women from Australia, Armenia, England, Egypt, Finland, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Portugal, Scotland and Trinidad.

It has been published in the journal, Aggressive Behaviour.