Feeling less safe alone in daylight: is anyone else noticing this?

So you don’t know that the ‘young black men’ you see out and about are immigrants! It’s just their race that intimidates you? Wow.

You find black young men wandering around intimidating? That’s a you problem.

I think this is just yet another poorly disguised thread posted by one of the far-right bots - they are getting so easy to spot.

For one I would keep away from lone public paths and woodland. Throwing phone in bush was a bit extreme. Yes we all need to be vigilant these days men as well as women. It’s not only women who get attacked. The world is a scary place but we can’t let that stop us from living our lives just have to be more vigilant which you have done.

I’ve noticed more sexual comments and approaches as I’ve got older, creepy comments, which surprises me as I thought men had progressed

That’s exactly what I thought too!

I have felt my gut instinct once in the last 5 years. Once but recent.

I was in a busy, touristy park in a major UK city (not London) and walked past a bloke dressed fully in black. He wasn’t hiding - he was standing smoking a fag, right on the path. He absolutely clocked me as I walked past. I knew it - senses working overtime.

I stopped to look at something (unrelated although my hackles were up). When I then cracked on with my walk, he was in front of me and he had stopped and moved to the side of the path. Every single fibre of my being screamed at me. I wasn’t necessarily scared because I heard my gut and knew I was in a busy location but I absofuckinglutely knew to turn the fuck around.

Once. In 5 years. A white (seemed) British guy making that area feel very very unsafe.

ETA for a typo and also to add that the Bad Man had stopped again up in front of me.

Meanwhile, we have an OP who posts about the threatening world we are living in now, where women are afraid to go out in the daytime and then never comes back.

In the real world it is perfectly sensible and rational for a woman to be concerned if a man changes direction to follow after her.

Your imaginary world contains right wing bogeyman on every corner seeking the inexplicable goal of ‘dividing us’.

I never implied prejudice. I asked the OP to explain.

Why do you keep referring to the areas being affluent? Are you implying that you are more surprised that you feel this way in a ‘nice’ area as it reads that you would expect poorer areas to keep these nasties….

@putmeonthebackburner "what do you mean by “looks out of place”? Maybe he realised he was going the wrong way?"

People can look out of place. I've lived on a large council estate for 30 years and my neighbours and I would definitely look twice at someone in a sharp suit and tie. Actually, we'd assume they were debt collectors. It's not helpful to suggest it's prejudice to imply that someone looks out of place. Wasn't that a major problem with the Manchester Arena bombing? Security were too scared to point out that the Asian male with a giant backpack was clearly not the concert's typical demographic.

I've always been wary - or certainly since I was mugged in my 20s. I have a job which sometimes requires going to dodgy areas of towns/cities or out in the countryside where there aren't many people around. I've had to go to my boss twice now about feeling unsafe and I think he thinks I'm a bit paranoid, but I've watched enough true crime documentaries that I know what can happen and how quickly. You can be attacked in a matter of seconds and it can ruin your life (or even end your life). It can happen in the daylight or in the dark. All that needs to happen is a lone man with malign intent encounters a lone woman.

I am more about living in reality rather than the imaginary world where there is a predator on every corner. For too long, women have been trapped by unnecessary fear and it's getting worse for people like the OP.

There are people trying to divide society and sow fear and distrust and they definitely are politically motivated.

Nice bit of gaslighting there.

The weirdest thing about this thread is that you purposefully dropped your phone in a bush!!

To answer your question, no I don't feel less safe during daylight or at night-time. I'm not sure you can blame this on menopause OP. Do you live in a particularly high crime area?

Okay, what is so pernicious about the line you are taking is that it encourages women to ignore their instincts and ignore their intuition.

OP took action to protect herself in each of the cases she described to ensure nothing happened. If she had squashed her fears with the type of rhetoric you spout, something may have happened.

By encouraging women to ' be kind' and to just believe that when they are worried they are not safe its because of ' hate on online', you are putting women at risk.

Women should never ignore their instincts and yes, it is always better to err on the side of caution and be safe. Your politically motivated stance puts women at risk.

1. all you had to do was put it in your bag
2. what do you mean by “looks out of place”? Maybe he realised he was going the wrong way?
3. no he didn’t. I can put money on it. There is no way someone actually said those words.
4. a man stopped in a lay-by?

to be honest a lot of this just sounds like you being very anxious.

Nothing actually happened in any of the situations the OP described though?