Australian woman organizes personal safety workshop after harassment incident

After being harassed and stalked on an early morning run south of Brisbane earlier this year, Kate* was left shaken and upset.

She did report the incident to the police but ultimately withdrew her complaint.

"It was extremely traumatic ... so I decided just to move forward and try and put it behind me and focus on the positives rather than trying to focus on the negative."

An overwhelming response after she posted about her experience online – along with harrowing statistics like one in five Australian women having experienced sexual violence – prompted Kate to organise a personal safety workshop.

"Women deserve to be able to run or just exist outside and feel safe," Kate said.

"So, while the onus doesn't rest on women to make themselves safer, there's certain things they can do ... to learn techniques on how to be safer when they're out on their own."

Since Kate's experience, a Brisbane woman was allegedly raped while out exercising, prompting a display of community solidarity.

Kate said she remained "really cautious" after what happened to her and still tried to run with a friend as often as possible, but was hopeful the workshop would boost her own, and others', confidence.

She has teamed up with advocate Danielle Godfrey, who runs personal safety workshops around the country.

The former police officer said more than a decade of investigating crimes, including sex crimes, had led to her desire to empower women through knowledge and practical skills.

"Before the self-defence moves, before any of the physical stuff, there's a lot of steps," she explained.

"Hopefully by thinking – awareness – then yelling, using your voice. Then running – creating distance – you actually never have to get to that fight situation."

Ms Godfrey acknowledged there were limits to how much self-defence and awareness could help.

"We don't know how we're going to respond when we're in these traumatic events," she explained.

"The brain can't process things that quickly. It needs time to catch up."

Ms Godfrey said she did not teach complicated moves, but focused on how to get out of an unsafe situation.

"If they can be aware of dangers, then they can avoid those situations," she explained.

Public health researcher Tracy Kolbe-Alexander said self-defence could help women feel like they were taking back control of a space.

But the University of Southern Queensland expert said there were many parts to improving women's safety.

She said women already carried a huge burden of safety considerations when they went out exercising – like not going out in the dark, or driving to a safer spot, or sharing their location.

"I think we need to be cautious [of making] women responsible for safety and their safety, so I would say it's a whole of society approach," she said.

"We need our boys and men to become aware of the challenges we face when we're going to be physically active."

A Queensland Police Service spokesperson said they investigate all reports of suspicious behaviour.

They said the service was committed making sure the community was, and felt, safe.

*Kate's last name has been withheld for privacy reasons.