Sexist and dangerous Samaritans ad

Yes I’ve bumped into lots of weird blokes in train stations. I try to keep my head down and remain close to railway staff. Opting to approach an unknown bloke behaving oddly and asking them to go for a coffee is not something I would risk, however I’d be comfortable highlighting concerns to railway staff

How does speaking to a man in daylight make a woman unsafe?

And plenty of men would take coffee chat as a come on from the woman and not believe their luck. Even middle aged men. You are asking for trouble saying that to a lone man.
better advice is tell the station officer on way out and go home.

Read it again: shes not wrong, as she specifed attempted suicide.
But you are also correct that there are more male deaths than female due to suicide.

Women are more likely to attempt suicide/have suicidal thoughts than men but the paradox is men are more likely to succeed when they make an attempt at suicide. So more suicidal ideation and attempts in women, but higher rates of completed suicide in men. This is normally ascribed to differences in method -men tend to use more immediately lethal means such as hanging, carbon monoxide poisoning, firearms, jumping from height, where women are more likely to take overdoses which can be regretted/discovered and have potential to be treated before fatality.

It would have been better if her conversation opener had been something more neutral like ‘Is this the right platform for the train to Chesterfield?’ or even ‘Is everything ok?’

Or how about the perennial ‘Cheer up love’ or ‘Give us a smile,’ that miserable looking women get? 🙄

Asking where to get a coffee sounds like a chat up line, particularly as she says it in such a hesitant, almost simpering way.

And the difference between the good, caring, lipsticked version vs the dithering, uptight handbag clutching one is far too obvious, not in a good way.

I don’t even think he was acting “oddly”. Clearly the ad campaigners haven’t been on a tube recently to see what odd behaviour actually is. My tube ride home the other day consisted of a bare foot man sliding his feet up and down the pole in middle of carriage then standing up and stretching and laughing to himself. Now that is odd behaviour and not just staring absent mindlessly into the distance. And no I didn’t ask bare foot man where to get a coffee!

This ad makes me angry.

When someone wants to commit suicide then nothing I can say will stop them. It's only going to make me, or the other women on that platform feel guilty we didn't stop it. Sometimes people don't want to be saved.

X posted with @DrBlackbird's much better post.

Of competed suicides.

Women attempt suicide more often

Given the potentially suicidal man is MUCH more likely to talk openly with a another MAN than a young woman (who appears to be awkwardly trying to chat him up - how unbelievably inappropriate under his circumstances!)

the add only makes sense if you think woman are uniquely designed to be support human.

Why are they not advocating for training for platform staff as this is stastically much more likely to reduce suicide.

As facts are important to you: factually, more woman attempt suicide. More men complete them.

Suicide statistics reveal that women are roughly three times more likely to attempt suicide, though men are two to four times more likely to die by suicide. Compared to men, women show higher rates of suicidal thinking, non-fatal suicidal behavior, and suicide attempts.

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35598742/

https://cams-care.com/resources/educational-content/gender-statistics-in-suicide-behavior/

Surely they are aware of Andys Man Club and the Shed one (sorry I cant remember the proper title). Men are quite capable and willing to look after each other. Talk to and support each other.

This ^^ is an important point.

So far my DD has not once noticed a suicidal looking man on a train platform but she has been endlessly approached by weird or aggressive ones on almost every journey.

Factually incorrect. Almost 2/3rd's of suicides are men.

I’m thinking of this from the perspective of my young adult DD and would never suggest that she go up to a mentally disturbed (stronger, bigger) man on a train station platform to ask if he knows where to get a coffee.

Yes maybe it would help him. In the ad, it’s a slightly older, so less threatening, man that we’re supposed to feel sorry/worried on his behalf.

But there’s just as good chance that a man would think it was a pick up line. We know many men don’t accept a woman’s clear ‘no’ as a no in the first place. Let alone in this ambiguous situation.

Worse, what if, in his disturbed state, he pushes her on to the tracks?

This ad is glaringly tone deaf to the reality of VAWG that occurs on a daily basis. Plus, I am sick to death of the harmful message that woman and girls are the ones to resolve men’s poor mental health.

The original post is why feminists get such a bad rap. You're looking for something that isn't there. It's about humanity. The end.

More women than men attempt suicide. It’s about time men started stepping up for their fellow men - there are certainly a lot of campaigns about it. You don’t really see the same campaigns targeted to women about seeking help it seems to be a given that women will talk about their problems.

anyway I agree that this ad is terrible - young women conditioned to do the “right” thing regardless of the risk to themselves shouldn’t be told to approach possibly disturbed men in this way.

So what I want to see is their research identifying 'total number of lone men of target age behaving oddly around train stations' and breaking down their motivation, behaviour and potential risk to others.

What proportion are contemplating suicide?

What proportion have potential violent, obsessive or stalking tendencies?

What proportion have lower grade worrying or anti-social tendencies, or a poor understanding of social cues?

Then we have the basis for a risk assessment.

are they perhaps trying to say don’t leave it to station staff? Because they’re under resourced etc.

station staff are usually fantastic IME, at stations that are staffed.

Yes, there’s a lot to dislike about those trite SM posts: ‘My door’s always open and my kettle’s always on…’

MH issues generally go way beyond what a chat with an amateur can fix.

But at the same time, there is evidence that a last minute approach from someone can prevent a person from actually taking the final step.

https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/am_i_being_unreasonable/5008197-to-think-wtf-adult-diaper-fetish?page=2

It's just some bloke with a hangover.