To be sick of women being told to exercise 'situational awareness'

[Quantumblue]

In Melbourne we have just had another sickening rape and murder of a young woman. A 22 year old comedian, walking home at 10.30 pm after finishing a gig. Through an inner city park where thousands of people walk, run, cycle and hang out each week.
The police response has been to tell women to exercise caution and situational awareness.
So upset at this loss ( she was at school with my nephew) and so upset that the solution is for women to be more aware. We are all aware of danger every time we go out our front doors.
RIP Eurydice

[Dungeondragon15]

GoldenWonderwall You don't know what all women are thinking. Why do you think that you know that avoiding dark parks etc won't prevent being raped by an acquaintance but other women don't?

It’s much easier to tell women (who aren’t known for risk taking behaviour anyway) to curtail their lives to avoid rapists than it is to really focus on getting men to stop raping women.

Why does it have to be either or? Do you really think that the police shouldn't warn women that they are at risk of getting murdered and how to reduce that risk because it might reduce the focus on rape by acquaintances?

[StormTreader]

"Why does it have to be either or?"

No-one has said it has to be, but theres a lot of people seeming to read it into other peoples posts.

[littlerocketman]

Why does it have to be either or?

This what I wonder. Why do people assume the police are encouraging women to be aware that a predator is around instead of going and looking for him. I would have thought they are doing both, yet encouraging situational awareness seems to be interpreted as a sign that police are expecting women to just look after themselves.

if you never go in a dark park for any reason you are unlikely to be raped in one.

That's the bit that isn't rubbish birddestiny. I also agree with what the poster go on to say - that it doesn’t prevent rape in general and it doesn’t solve rape as a societal issue. So few rapes are carried out by strangers that avoiding 'dangerous' isolated areas is not going to alter the statistics (especially since the rapist will probably continue until they do find a target) but it's not rubbish to think that the individual choosing not to walk home alone etc is slightly safer than the one who doesn't.

[Dungeondragon15]

No-one has said it has to be, but theres a lot of people seeming to read it into other peoples posts.

I did read that into the post and others. The poster said that
telling women to avoid dark parks and allies it "takes the focus from thinking fully about the larger risk of rape from men that are in your acquaintance".

Another posts states that the strategy of telling women to avoid dark parks, allies etc is "rubbish and stops us looking at things that might actually bloody work".

[GoldenWonderwall]

I’m really confused.

I’m agreeing with you! Avoid dark park = reducing your risk of anything happening to you in a dark park. What more is there to say about it? I don’t think avoiding dark parks reduces in any meaningful way your risk of being raped in general. I don’t see why an acquaintance would wait in/for a dark park to rape you when he could do so at his convenience.

This is one of the safest time humans have lived in I believe - there’s a lot of stuff out there about it. It doesn’t necessarily feel that way because of how news is reported.

[Dungeondragon15]

I don’t think avoiding dark parks reduces in any meaningful way your risk of being raped in general. I don’t see why an acquaintance would wait in/for a dark park to rape you when he could do so at his convenience.

It might not reduce the risk of being raped overall but it could reduce the risk of being raped AND murdered. That seems to be forgotten about here. This women wasn't just raped. She was also murdered.

[user1499173618]

If my relative hadn’t been hanging around in a dark park last week at 11pm, she wouldn’t have been mugged at knifepoint...

[StormTreader]

"If my relative hadn’t been hanging around in a dark park last week at 11pm, she wouldn’t have been mugged at knifepoint..."

Honest question though, do you think if she hadn't then her muggers would have mugged NO-ONE that night, or just that it would have been someone else?

[user1499173618]

Obviously they were looking for someone to mug! There were several of them, with knives. But IMVHO you have to be pretty naive to think that sitting around in an empty skatepark with two friends at 11pm and your bankcards and phones in your handbag is a zero risk proposition.