To think men should be more self aware when walking behind women?

Absolutely. Someone made me aware of this when. I was 18. Been doing it ever since 👍

I recently saw a man walking behind a woman as they crossed a park. He was moving very slowly and stayed right behind her. Eventually she almost had to stop, and when he finally passed her, he came so close she had to step onto the grass to give him space. Watching the interaction really annoyed me. I was too far back to do anything.
It was a little old man and a nicely dressed young woman who looked like she was on her way to pick up a child from school.

My two adult DSs know not to do this

If men are so unaware of the threats that women face to their safety that they think trsnswomen in women’s single sex spaces is ok, I very much doubt that they have any clue that this could ever be an issue.

Men haven’t lived the lives of women. Men aren’t regularly cat called or leered at or sexually assaulted. These are women’s life experiences. Sadly,

It's the parents giving their kids little shiny addictive pocket computers cum dopamine dealers which leads to their intense concentration on them. The schools ban phones because otherwise pupils would never extract their nostrils from them, not the other way round.

I think we need to teach both boys and girls more situational awareness.

At uni we had a talk from
(Male) security as part of our intro week where he explained why men shouldn’t walk behind women, especially at night. He advised if possible that men cross the street and highlighted why women might find it worrying to have a man walking close behind them.
It really stuck with me and Ds who is now 11 knows not to do this. We encounter it frequently because we walk most places and it really pisses me off. I make a point of stopping and letting the man pass and explain to Ds why. Today he then seemed to slow down so we were then right behind him and had to slow downs Luckily he veered off to the train station.

You think that you have the right to control how someone walks down the street . . . 🙄

You can get help for your anxiety.

I had some guy RUN up to me and passed me at NIGHT when I went to my local shop and I almost had a heart attack. He was clearly running to the bus or something but honesty I thought what an inconsiderate twat.

Why do you feel the need to keep wading in with your passive aggressive comments? Why do you think there is a whole Government strategy on VAWG? I'm pretty sure it won't detail how women should be doing more to keep themselves safe. 🙄

If you’re withdrawing money at a cash point muggers aren’t going to faff around. You need to be aware yourself who’s behind you. People shouldn’t be walking around oblivious of who’s behind them. No sex should have to tip toe around because another sex thinks there’s an axe murderer hiding behind every tree. Be aware yourself of who’s behind you.

It's something most men think about and are aware of, but it's a hard one sometimes to work out what's the best to do.. I'll tend to cross the road if possible, but that's not always doable, and on a previous thread someone said they found a man crossing the road and then speeding up more intimidating, because they think they might be waiting around the corner.

I find the stopping to tie a shoelace etc doesn't really work, because it just delays the issue, because I'm quite a tall man and so have quite a fast walking speed. I can slow down but then it just feels like I'm tailing the poor woman. Sometimes the only thing to do is to just pass them as quick as you can and then disappear off into the distance. Which I'm sure feels more intimidating for the woman while it's happening but at least keeps the encounter brief.

I do try to keep my hoodie down, but I've got a bloody great scar on my face that tends to give people a bit of a start, so I don't know if that's any better to be honest!

I do too. Bad men come often from bad mothers, I think. I’m a feminist and I’ve raised my sons to be very aware of women’s needs and rights. The worst men are ones who have been pampered princes (or been raised in domestic violence which is not the mother’s fault).

it's all about surroundings, walking up the high street in the middle of the day, I'd not think it would cause much concern, walking up the high street in the dark and no one around, I'd cross over or walk past them quickly, I tend to walk faster than most folk anyway, i dont tend to hang back as this could be seen as following them, even if you're not!

It is irritating. I tend to stop, turn and face them under the pretence of my dogs having a wee/sniff and let them pass me.

Many years ago I was walking home and a man was coming up behind me - he called out to say " lass don't be scared I'm just on my way home" . There was only a path on one side of the road. Yes it could have been a bluff but it wasn't. This was the 1970s and it shows men have been aware of this for a long time. Unfortunately there are too many hooded young men now who have not been brought up to think like this.

I am 5ft9 and "sturdy" I have been mistaken for a man before when I had short hair. I run, often at night and if it's raining and I have my hood up/hat on I always warn women who I am about to overtake when they are walking. I wouldn't want them to get a fright with my big body running towards them. It's just good ettiquete in my opinion.
My DD has been warned if she is walking home at night then headphones out and phone away so she is aware of her surroundings. That's just basic common sense regardless of sex.

Having a daughter terrifies me sometimes. She’s still little, but predatory men is one of the number one things that scares me about her future because I’ve had so many bad experiences as a young woman. She does a martial art that hopefully might give her some basic self-defence skills in the future but it’s not enough. Although I don’t agree with America’s gun laws at all, I do feel envious of them sometimes for the fact that you can legally buy a taser and pepper spray there for self-defence. The options available to women to (legally) buy & carry items for self-defence in this country is pathetic IMO

Tbf you are making women sound feeble and limited. Only on MN do I come across such weird ideas.

Maybe those worried should take up self defense classes.

Or it'll be some git manipulating her into letting down her guard.

I'm afraid that some men walk behind women quite deliberately, especially if it's dark. This has happened to me more than a few times. I got so scared once ~ sometimes he was behind me, getting nearer, sometimes he crossed the road and walked just ahead of me, then crossed back behind me. Nobody else around, no shops. My fear exploded into rage and I stood still and yelled at him (when he was across the road), 'What the fuck do you think you're doing?!' And he laughed. He called out, 'Sorry, love, just having a bit of fun,' and sloped off.

Some men just have no imagination and cannot think of how their following a woman, even if inadvertently, may be perceived.
I remember having a man at work having a winge because in this scenario the woman had half confronted him saying something like she knew he was there. He was saying is he not allowed to walk home anymore and that he wasn't going to assault anyone. As a couple of us pointed out to him, the woman could not possibly know the intentions of the person who was giving the appearances of following her, it must have been terrifying.
It is bad enough that half the population cannot feel totally safe when out and about without having to start second guessing the intentions of a man who could easily prevent the situation.
If my having to cross a road, stop to allow a distance to develop or even take another route eases the fear of someone then why wouldn't I do it?
It is definitely something that men should be much more aware of.

It recently happened to me I could feel a man behind me so I stopped so he would walk in front and he kept looking behind and walking really slow eventually I just stopped until I couldn't see him.