"Normal" advice to not walk around at night in Bristol.

that sounds awful Riven. One of the things that i love most about Bristol is that have found most of the people really open minded...its very sad to hear that its not like that all over the city.

I do not like living in Clifton. Its far too posh for me! i am hoping to move to Stokes Croft/Montpelier area in the summer. Hopefully a little more diverse than Clifton! lol

Jess - thanks for that. Interesting points about the street lighting in Clifton - it is pretty terrible and its the same in Redland and Cotham as well but I didn't realise there were ongoing discussions about it

Can't believe the whole 'dimming' issue..you would think the residents would put safety first - and its not just for women walking alone, there is a lot of petty car crime in Clifton also

I wonder if the clocks not going back in the Autumn will make a difference?

I know that when I was in Clifton, I hated going out after dark or getting taxis back alone and I wasn't the only one..you do tend to live under a self imposed curfew and the journey home (bus, taxi or walking) was never a relaxed one by any means - sadly

Just briefly coming out of lurkerdom to thank everyone for their responses to this thread - I'm currently co-writing a report on a small survey into how safe women/men feel when out in public places in our local town. Your comments are really useful in explaining why it's important for women not to feel under some sort of night-time curfew as many people do seem to accept this as normal.

If you don't mind ISNT we will also use that BBC weblink as an example of the sort of attitudes that still exist.

When the report is complete it will be available here
harrogatefeminists.wordpress.com/feeling-safe-in-public-places-a-survey/

Hi all
I am typing on my phone so apologies for typos and conciseness of message.

To join Bristol Feminist Network please email [email protected]

See also: www.bristolfeministnetwork.com/

There is Bristol Fawcett. The email address is
[email protected]

Fawcett meets on the second Weds of every month. The BFN yahoo group is open to anyone who wants to join. Fawcett's is opened up to new members after they have been to 3 meetings.

I would say that Fawcett is more formal. We have an agenda and minutes and try to share actions out fairly. BFN is different in that there are discussion groups, book groups and more ad hoc events

Both have active Facebook groups where you will find a list of all the events.

Members of both groups have been in touch with the police and the council about the street lighting in Clifton. Apparently this is an ongoing debate. Residents have complained in the past about bright lights shining into their bedrooms and also they are Victorian style lights and some residents have campaigned to keep them dimmed so that they are in keeping with the style. (A little strange, I know.) I think there is going to be a meeting between the police and members of both groups so that the police can understand our position and concerns better. I will keep this forum updated as and when I hear anymore news.

@Dittany, in answer to the question about the RTN march. We do have one planned for this year. I have not been involved in the organising of one myself so it is difficult to comment but those who have have said that it is very time consuming and is hard work and that there is a lot of preparation. Having organised events on a much smaller scale, and been exhausted as a result, I can sympathise. There is a lot of 'behind the scenes' work that needs to be done.

It was felt anyway, after much discussion, that a march was inappropriate at this time. There is a grieving family who do not know what happened to their daughter before she was murdered and it was felt that a march at this time would be inappropriate for the family. Hence it was decided to proceed with the suggestion of an vigil (I don't know when or where).

Bristol has a very active and wide feminist network and it is led by a number of hard working individuals. Other than London, I don't know of any city that organises so many feminist events. We are in the paper all the time. There is a lot of hard work going on that many people don't see or hear about but there are people who spend hours at council meetings, influencing policy from the inside. There are people who take direct action every single day, even though it might be on a small scale. We worked so hard on the Hooters campaign, I can't tell you!

Please be assured that all of the issues discussed on this section are being discussed and addressed by the feminist groups in Bristol.

In fact here it is

bbc

"I can understand why the public in the local and wider Bristol area have concerns for their safety at the current time. Whoever killed Joanna remains at large.

"However, I want to reassure the public that at this time there is no specific intelligence or information to suggest an increased threat to their safety.

"Naturally, we ask the public to take the usual safety precautions. Women should avoid walking home alone after dark, householders should try to keep their premises secure and just take care when answering the door to strangers."

Motherfunster said that the initial police guidance was that women should follow normal precautions and not go out at night unaccompanied. If that's what they said I agree with her - no-one has said up until this point that that wasn't the initial police advice. If the police never in fact said that then why has no-one mentioned it up until now, and everyone's been talking as if they know what she's talking about?

I mean the thread was about whether it is OK for the police to say that women not being alone after dark should the the "normal" advice - people have been agreeing or disagreeing on that basis.

Motherfunster is wrong.

That wasn't part of the initial statement.

In your first post you seemed to be saying that you had no issue with the original advice given by police though - which according to the OP was that women should follow the "normal" advice not to to be out after dark by themselves. Have I misunderstood your stance?

ISNT...I'm not advising that people don't walk home alone, but I wouldn't.

This isn't about women, imo, this about safety especially right now. What do people want the Police to do? Issue a statement saying we know it's the murderers fault for being a murderer and so carry on, as you were, and we'll catch him!? It's an unusual crime and at the moment we think the man that killed Jo Yeates is someone that randomly chose her, took her somewhere and strangled her...but to avoid being sexist caryy on as you were everyone.

I ask my children to look both ways when crossing all roads, cars are dangerous.

I am quite surprised at that Riven. I have recently moved to Bristol and i have found it one of the friendliest cities that i have ever lived. I have found everyone polite and helpful!

I live in the Clifton area and i have to walk around alone after dark. I don't have a choice.

I used to live in Clifton...the street lighting is shit so loads of roads are really dark, there are loads of trees and shrubbery and houses set back far from the road...it is awful to walk around in at night - even at 5pm and so I used to try and drive when I could but even getting out of my car in the dark street used to freak me out

Glad we don't live there anymore tbh!

"If there is to be a curb on people's freedom, it should be on men until this man is caught, otherwise people are giving in to terrorism against women"

Absolutely! When we went to Bristol last week there I saw at least 5 men running along the river alone after dark. No women. Why should women be forced to stay at home? I don't live there but if I couldn't get out pounding the pavement regularly I'd go quietly crazy! And why should I? I pose no threat to other people.

No-one accused you of lying margaret. It's just absolutely mind-boggling, people are interested how it happened.

I don't see how your story helps though. Do you think that all women should be accompanied after dark at all times? That seems to be the gist of your point, and you hold up yourself as an example to show how everyone can do it.

The interesting thing of course is that you're more likely to be attacked by someone you know than someone you don't, so arguably women are safer walking home alone than with men they know, but that's another thread I guess.

It is a disgrace, of course it is. Although my friend who still lives in my home town was recently followed home by a man, when she started running so did he. When she hid in bushes near her home he looked for her up and down the road for over half an hour. The police believe he was the same man who sexually attacked a woman in a city 9 miles away...but they didn't even warn the public because they didn't want to alarm anyone./

Ah OK. It is very unusual though!

No, I was subtly being accused of lying and so I put that little bit of nonsense to rest.

And your point is ..? That everyone should follow suit and never walk anywhere on their own?

MUA...I am sure there are exceptions, but I would say that I never walked alone in the dark. I lived in a sweet shop and so my door was always open and parent/s were always there. I lived in the high street and the bus stop was 10 ft from my door. I went to college far away but the bus stop was outside college and my door. Then at Uni I lived on campus and then with four girls from my course.

When I worked in London, again, I lived with people I worked with.

I didn't never walk alone as a result of fear, I just never walked alone.

I walked 2 miles to school and the boys would ensure they picked me up from my door and dropped me at my door.

My school bus didn't drop me off til 5pm when I was at secondary school - for several months a year that's after dark.

Last night I had to walk to the corner shop to get some bits and pieces, too short a distance to drive even if I had a car.

I find it hard to believe anyone over the age of about 14 never walks on their own after dark.