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..

I’ve always done it tbh and not given it great deal of thought.

I wouldn’t go along the canal or through woods alone after dark at night.

As a teenager I was once approached by a man who asked if I’d like to see him wank-that was at 8am on the way to school and once another delightful man dropped a stack of photos of his penis in front of me and a friend as we walked home from school so I know there are vile creatures around but it doesn’t stop me walking in the dark

I do not walk alone in the dark

Thing is Sarah Everard was just walking round a well populated well lit area at a not too late time of night. I've been known to walk round Manchester at that time. Think nothing of it. I wouldn't want to walk outside of the well lit areas but always considered the main streets and city centre safe enough to get myself home from a theatre or restaurant by tram and walking.

It certainly makes you think.

I wouldn't run in a park at 9pm even in the light, not enough people about. But you think you will be OK in a populated place.

Sarah was arrested. So I know it was unusual. Someone even saw and let it happen. Like Sarah the witness didn't question the arrest.

Up till now I've walked in the woods in the dark with the dog and go jogging in some very isolated woods again with my big dog. The woods have reports of a flasher in it over the last year and I've taken the stance that why the fuck should I not go jogging there but I have now changed my mind. it's so bloody annoying but I am now scared to go.

Yes, I always used to walk home from the tube/bus stop after a night out without thinking about it. Never experienced any issues, we're in zone 1 so it's always busy. I haven't done it much in recent years as I don't have late nights out (thanks to dc!) and the rare nights out I do have are with DH (we walk home together, we don't have a car and never pay for taxis). In winter I pick up DD from nursery at 4.30pm and it's already dark when we get home.

A friend used to start muttering to herself when she was walking home from work late. She said people tended to steer clear. (Don't know if she was exaggerating).

I run every morning from 6-7, so that’s in the dark most of the year. I walk home from the station after work c7pm on a normal day and anything up to 11:30pm if I have been working in a different office. I simply wouldn’t be able to go about daily life without being out in the dark. I worry far more about being hit by a car than being attacked, I try to keep to well lit areas, but frankly in residential streets they aren’t that busy. I don’t consider myself lucky to have never been attacked- that is by far the most likely outcome. You would be unlucky to be attacked.

Yes. I feel safer walking than in a taxi and I'm not staying home out of fear.

When I lived abroad I felt completely safe walking around by myself after dark. Not in the UK though. Couple of incidents have happened to me in broad daylight here never mind after dark!

I walk in the dark, but not usually when its late. & Im in no way a fearful person but it makes sense to at least try to be safe.

I finished work at 9pm tonight. A colleague had gone on just before me, I'd stopped to say goodbye to security staff. On leaving the building I realised she was hovering in the doorway, waiting for me to walk with her. Office is on a side road, very dark. To the right of us is a big park which isnt well-lit, to the left you come out onto a road, but its not busy. Only a 3/4 minute walk to main road. Ive come out of that building alone so many times, as have other female colleagues. I never even think about it.

But i guess we're all more mindful now. It's sad, and annoying. 9pm isnt even late. You shouldn't feel ashamed OP. The biggest danger to both men and women is other men and that cant be denied. Deal with your personal safety as you please.

I experienced an attempted rape in a taxi when I was 17. I was also mugged during Winter hours at 6 30pm about 23 years ago.

I do frequently. Have had to work alone at night involving walking down dark alleys etc. I do work outside London though. I’ve always walked around in the dark ever since I left home.

I often take a cut through and have my keys in my hand and occasionally jog it. I'm reasonably fit so confident I could run to a well-lit area, but I also know it's a fairly daft option to save 10 minutes.

But I'm lulled into a sense of security of living in middle class Surrey. Which I know means nothing, but gives me a false reassurance. I should probably just start walking the long way round.

Really, there should be better public transport - particularly at night.

No never,

@DinosaurOfFire

I have always done so without giving it a second thought tbh. I haven't always been able to drive or lived on bus routes, so walking places is second nature to me. In my mid 30s now and still walk on my own at night at times.

I'm late 40s rather than mid 30s but very much the same for me. I've only had a car for the last few years, prior to that I'd often be walking alone from the station, bus stop etc in the dark which could be anything from 6pm in winter on my way home, to 12-1am after a night out and getting the last train/ bus.

I live in a busy part of London, I've never really given it a lot of thought, there's been the odd occasion where I've spooked myself a bit but on the whole I've never thought of it as taking a massive risk.

That said I'm thinking now of poor Sarah Everard and Sabina Nessa (Sabinas murder occurred in an area I'm familiar with and which I wouldn't have considered risky) and thinking maybe I have been too complacent?

I'm sorry you went through that OP

Yes quite happy to walk about in the dark. I frequently go walking and my DP keeps saying I need to make sure I am out of woods, quiet green spaces before it is dark.

I'm a pretty big woman (not fat...well maybe a little bit fat, but mainly just big, broad and tall), with a reasonable punch (from doing boxing and lifting).

Still no! No way. I used to do it quite a lot but haven't for years. My DH is not over protective in any way, but he would never let me walk home at night either.

The darker the better for me. I'm always with the dogs, but with social anxiety I find comfort in the darkness. If there's a path with lights and a path with no lights, I will always choose the path that has none.

I used to, not now and I question what the fuck I was doing.

Not in the city areas but I do out in the sticks.

No

I dont have any choice, finish work between 8.30 - 9pm then have to walk to bus stop and home from the bus stop at the other end.

Depends where..