Do you walk alone?

Yes but not isolated areas.

I walk home alone at night a few times a week. A couple of times I've had a few incidents is the wrong word really, more potential, maybe unfounded but maybe not "scares" but luckily so far it's been OK.

I stick to main roads and hope for the best.

I'm.jot paying 3.50 a time for a taxi when by the time it's arrived I could he half way home.

In my experience (in my rural, heavily forested, local area) it is elderly people who seem to be at the highest risk of being attacked whilst walking alone.

In the 10+ years I have lived here we have had 3 very serious incidents: 2 muggings requiring hospitalisation and 1 murder. All the victims were elderly men walking busy, well-trodden routes in the middle of the day and within close proximity of the roads.

Now I’m sure a lot of assaults, particularly rape, never get reported but you have to go back to the 1980s before any well-known incidents involving women are mentioned (an elderly woman in this case). This helps create a perception locally that the forests are safe places for women and so lots of us walk alone which, in turn, makes them feel even safer.

I walk home on my own after dark in my city, but I sometimes feel nervous, and sometimes keep my keys clenched into my fist just in case. And then I hate that I feel nervous.

I love walking alone in the countryside during the daytime, something I've done a lot more over the past 2 yrs, and I never feel nervous then.

Yes. I always have. And travelled alone. Including in rougher areas - sticking to busy routes.

Round here is statistically safer than most areas, so I have no issue walking alone when no one else is about. I may not go that far in other areas, but I'm damned if I'm going to worry about it where I live.

I don’t walk alone unless I’m in a town or village or city. Definitely wouldn’t in the woods near us.

But look at Sarah Everard, it’s no guarantee of safety. It’s so depressing.

I balanced the risks with my need for adventure when I went to Morocco alone. Wandered the souks, haggled with traders and ate alone in cafes.

Loved it. I appreciate that I'm an older woman who doesn't attract the attention I did in my youth though.

Yes, even after a night duty but am careful about the route I take and am vigilant. I realise that doesn't mean it can't (won't) happen if someone was determined to attack me.
I do feel that if women stop walking at night it will make it more unsafe so I will continue as long as I feel safe.
Some people are not happy with my decision (not family) but that's them projecting their fears on me. I don't have a problem with that nor for those that say they won't but don't think it will stop me.

I think this is definitely a feminist issue, because it is about how we as women internalise not just what we may have experienced of male violence, but also what we have heard.

From a very young age I have walked on my own, starting at around 10 in the countryside. I am not sure that nowadays many families would allow that. Not sure if there is a higher incidence of lone females of any age being attacked nowadays, but through mass media we hear about it.

In my mind, although I love the long summer evenings, I also associate it as a time of year when young girls get snatched off the street.

So what I find is that I will set off, not just walking locally but making a special trip to walk somewhere, and then (usually when I am at the furthest point from anywhere or anyone) it will creep into my head that I am maybe a bit vulnerable. And what was a carefree outing is undermined

Even if the statistics for stranger violence in the outdoors against women maybe low, it doesn't mean that it cant happen. And I suspect undereported.

And this is what I hate.

That I cant just on a whim go for a walk or special trip without at some point, have a part of me think how safe is this for a woman on their own?

And like someone said up thread, I am concerned that because of lockdown, I may have lost the habit of taking myself off, or planning a long walk.

I'm not entirely sure random stranger attacks are as vanishingly rare as people think sadly.
I'm thinking of the number of women who wouldn't walk alone after dark anyway so wouldn't become a victim, and non-reporting.

Women are much more at risk at home than walking outside.

But we spend much more time at home than walking outside. Is that a like-for-like comparison?

I have always walked along at any time of day or night and I even hitch-hiked alone far and wide in my youth. I feel dreadfully for people who have suffered an attack and I understand that that can have consequences, but I don't think women should curtail our own freedom unless the dangers are extreme.

I'm going to be more careful after yesterday. A couple of twelve year olds decided it would be amusing to block my path and harass me. I pushed past them in the end (once I got over my reluctance to do anything physical towards a child) but they were taller than me, I was exhausted after a long day and suddenly I wasn't sure what would happen if they'd been more aggressive. It must have looked worrying because a cyclist stopped to check I was ok.

Yes. There is no one else to walk with. I just try to be sensible about where and when. Not sure about all the advice about not wearing headphones. If I have my music blading out I feel safer than listening out for an attacker I may well not hear beforehand even without the headphones.

"Two women a week are killed by a partner or ex partner. I think that's gone up to three a week.
Women are much more at risk at home than walking outside."

Women in general are, that's totally true. But this thread is asking us about our personal risk assessments. My personal risk of DV is zero, so therefore I am obviously more at risk walking alone outside.

I do it, but I am jumpy.

@Lovetomato I am getting close to that stage with 11 yo DD now (and 12 yo DS, who I believe is at equal or even higher risk of male violence)

I walk my small dog through isolated forest every day, not in complete darkness but often at twilight.

When it’s close to dark I tend to either stick to wide open popular spaces or, more often, completely isolated routes where I’m hidden by the trees and unlikely to see anyone. I carry a rape alarm when DH reminds me, but doubt it would be of any help.

I do sometimes feel intimidated, and once had a man deliberately try to intimidate me. I remind myself that, statistically, an attack is very unlikely. In fact, the small number of attacks I know of have all been against elderly men this doesn’t stop the lone-walking elderly men I see on my walks cautioning me that women shouldn’t walk alone

For me, what pisses me off, almost more than the risk of attack, is the fact that if I am attacked the Daily Mail, social media etc will be full of “she shouldn’t have been waking alone there” type comments. I have never seen this response to any of the attacks on elderly men. Despite them being higher risk.

On a more lighthearted note, I sometimes walk past or park at a known dogging spot (and am always surprised by the times of day they are active!) I feel completely unthreatened and have actually found them polite and easy to approach if my car is blocked in

I must be honest, not if I can avoid it during quiet time. I live near a giant park but avoid using it when I know it is not busy. I used to take a walk on its loop before work and got harassed severely by a man who later got convicted for sex offences. There have also been a couple of muggings down there.

I do solo coastal and woodland runs but only if it’s daylight.

I also purposely don’t follow a set routine and mix up routes and times. Not really sure why as if someone wanted to attack me they would probably do it there and then not come back the next day. For some reason though it makes me feel safer though.

Yes I ^alk and run alone all the time. To be honest it's never bothered me. I remember reading as a teenager that men were much more likely to be attacked on the street than women and, rightly or wrongly, that gave the confidence to realise the risks were minimal. I'd rather rather walk home alone from a date, for example, than have a relatively unknown date walk me home.

Yes, I run in the woods in my own, without even a dog for protection, all the time. Lots of people think I shouldn't but it's my happy place and I'm prepared to take the small risk to have it.

I like to think I could outrun any attacker and over 10k I probably could, but realistically any averagely fit man is going to beat me over 20 yards.

I also get the tube alone at night and walk home from the station at home. I take some precautions and am aware of my surroundings, don't use headphones for example, but I'm not going to stop living my life.

I just refuse worry about it.

I often walk alone. But the sad thing was that I felt unable to give permission for my DD (13) to walk alone in our local woods when I allowed my DS (15) during Lockdown. That conversation with my DD made me sad and I didn’t know if I was doing the right thing - I said she could walk alone around our local area but just not in the woods. Statistically she is probably as safe or not safe in either scenario. A car could pull up beside her on a road, she could encounter someone unpleasant etc. I could see the look in her face as I deliberated whether she could walk alone or not. She thought it was unfair. I agreed. And in that moment I realised I was welcoming her into that fundamental space that women navigate every day of their lives - often on a subconscious level. I said there are times when you need to be vigilant but you can’t stop doing stuff out of fear. But sometimes we need to be aware of our safety in a way that men don’t. She said that’s shit. I agreed.

Yes, I walk and run alone sometimes with my very unthreatening little dog. Walk and run on streets, parks, fields,woods. Never feel unsafe.