As a female do you have the courage to walk alone in the dark?

[Vaccine001]

I have done so but rarely. It has always terrified me. What if i akways think to myself..

Yes I do, I prefer to walk my dog at night, just because I like the quiet solitude and the cool air.

If I walk out of the village into the fields, I don't use a torch or anything, I feel more comfortable being invisible in the darkness.

@spotcheck

I'm not sure it's to do with bravery? More just good sense not to.

It shouldn't have to be "good sense" not to.

Op, I used to do it when I was younger, ten years ago. Even three or four years ago I did it when I had to quite confidently. I remember scoffing at dp when he told me not to walk the short cut from nursery with Ds. I don't do it anymore, unless it's absolutely unavoidable. It's not safe is it.

It makes me so angry. We should be able to get home from work safely, meet A friend safely, live our lives safely and without fear and we are prohibited from doing so by men.

I used to have to! But, there was a rapist on the loose near the Common I had to walk over to get home and I knocked on the door of an ex boyfriend as I was so worried (I mean seriously worried, no street lights, no made up roads) and his Mum insisted from then on in, he met me from the bus stop, walked me home and that included walking the dog as well

Our "rapist" was never found but I was one of the lucky ones to have an escort home.

I do but I’m definitely more self conscious about it now. I also don’t walk around past 9/10 anymore if I can help it.

When I was in my late teens early 20s I used to walk across my city in the early hours of the morning to meet my boyfriend at the time. Looking back, although I tried to make sensible choices about routes, I think how lucky I probably was that nothing bad ever happened to me.

Any "hing" worth stealing! Autocorrect made me come over all wedgie.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/explainers-56365412.amp

More than 70% of women were killed in their own home - twice the figure for men.

Outdoors is actually more dangerous for men.

@Tealightsandd

Huge numbers of women have to everyday (and do it without incident). Getting to and from work, for example. Not everyone can drive or afford to run a car, and many workplaces don't have parking or it's too expensive.

I agree with this. If you never walk in the dark just because you don't like to, you are either overly anxious or immensely privileged, or both.

The dark itself is not an issue.

I live a 45m walk from work and in winter i will often do that in the dark. I wouldn't hesitate about walking after 5am or before 9pm, no matter how dark it is. I would be a lot less comfortable outside these times though.

I'm not very attractive and I don't look like I have anything hing worth stealing.

I don’t think attractiveness has much to do with being a potential victim of rape tbh...

I have always felt ashamed of myself for not feeling safe. My life circumstances mean I'm rarely out when the dark nights are here but if i needed to go to the shop id wait until the next morning.

Only in well lit busy areas. I also don't walk with headphones in, don't play on my phone when I do. I don't make eye contact, it's very much just walk with purpose to where I need to be.

I don't or won't after about 9pm though. Never. Streets are too quiet, not enough people about.

Nope. I used to when I was younger, usually after a few drinks, certainly wasn't a sensible thing to do!

I’ve always had to as finish work very late. Have to walk to the car park (bit of a way) and of course go into the car park alone. I am in my 50s. The Sarah Everard case has really made me wonder about the safety of any of this. It shows no woman is safe and clearly there are men simply out there prowling round intent on murder. In this case it was a cop but there have been plenty of other random killings over the years of women vanishing. It could be any of us.

Definitely not

It doesn't worry me really. If it's a street with houses, rather than a country road, I think it's fine.

Walked home from work in London (2 miles) almost every day for 10 years, often after 10pm. Never felt unsafe.

Now live rurally and less happy to walk in the dark as no pavement, street lights and no one around.

I run at 8pm, so after dark for a lot of the year, three times a week. I did pause before putting my trainers on tonight, but I love running outdoors, can only do it at that time and I'm not being scared into giving it up.

Yes. Often walked home from work at gone midnight when I worked in a pub. Even now in winter,it's dark when I finish work. I don't have a car and it's not far from the train station anyway.

I don't. I would want dh or ds doing it either.

I read about a Lady being followed today during the afternoon. She went into a shop and he waited outside for her pacing up and down. She is currently being encouraged to report this to the Police as another Lady stated her Daughter was followed off the bus last night by a man matching the same description.

Yes, I do. There are plenty of roads I wouldn’t go down, but I would certainly walk late at night from a restaurant to the tube in London, not down back streets of course, or the station to my house through a busy town centre, or from a friend’s house to my house in our local area.

I do, because I have to, I work nightshifts, my DD has to because it gets dark before she gets home.

Am I concerned? Yes, more for her than me, I'm fat, and therefore probably less likely to be a target because I wouldn't be that easy to take for sheer logistics. She's not, and it worries me.

I used to work nightshifts on my own in hospitality, after one too many creepy guys not just verbally being creepy, but physically too, and trying to take advantage of the fact I was female, I was glad to be made redundant during covid, and I will never put myself in that situation again, and do everything within my power to dissuade my DD from doing so. I think I became numb to it because it happened so often, even I took it as 'normal'. No one was interested, except to find it funny.

I understand the desire not to however but it's a shame to let it take over you. Taking a balanced risk assessed approach is best.

I disagree with the proposals in some areas to turn off street lights at night. That will make it more dangerous for everybody - men as well as women. A gift for muggers, for example.

I do and don’t worry about it. Statistically speaking the chance of anything happening to you is small. I appreciate why women feel vulnerable and statistics aren’t always reassuring so no judgement for those who don’t feel safe.

Yes I do, it doesn't bother me. I live somewhere I consider safe, if I lived somewhere else I might think differently.