Would you walk across a field alone?

[Summerloverr]

I do quite a lot of walking around my town, and one route involves walking across a field for 5-10 minutes.

I only do this during daylight and while it's usually quiet with no one around, there is the occasional dog walker etc.

But my friend thinks I am putting my line on the line by doing this, and says I am putting myself in danger. He said it's not safe for a lone woman to walk alone across fields.

I know there are news stories about horrible and unfortunate events, but they make the news because it's rare. AIBU to walk across quiet fields alone?

I'd dispute that abduction is rarer now.

According to police figures there were 33 abductions in 1971.

In 2014-15, according to a report by Action Against Abduction, there were 1,141 cases, including 618 non-parental abduction attempts across England, Wales and Northern Ireland.

Even taking into account different ways of reporting it would appear that child abduction had increased significantly in recent decades.

Surely the risk of being attacked is far higher where there are a lot of people, such as city centres, rather than in a most likely empty field. What are the odds of the odd dog walker being a danger to you? I think there is an illusion of safety in busier areas but actually, the more people that are around the more risky it is. Studies have shown that in busy areas people will often do nothing to assist someone being attacked as they assume someone else will.

At the end of the day it depends on where this field is and what kind of field it is. Is it an overgrown mess with tall trees? Is it agricultural land? Are there cows grazing? Is it an urban area or the middle of nowhere? Only the OP knows and if they're asking, well therein lies the answer. When unusure, play it safe and go with the lower risk option.

Can I ask, how do you know I haven't? But because it was a beach not a field does it not count? And I'll be damned if I'm spending the rest of my life shying away from living.

Depends where you are. In the north of Scotland, yes. In a field somewhere near a heavily populated town or area of high crime, no.

The solution is not that women don't go out.
But the actual solution seems to be a long time coming.
In the meantime, I'm not prepared to repeat what happened to me to prove a point, and I refuse to be shamed by others for my decision.
Rather than women somehow belittling other women, perhaps we can agree the actual problem is not women who don't go to isolated places alone, but the men out there who should be locked away.

Rather than women somehow belittling other women, perhaps we can agree the actual problem is not women who don't go to isolated places alone, but the men out there who should be locked away.

Well considering you insinuated I can't appreciate what it's like to be attacked in a remote place until it happens (which it has), I'd say you're just as guilty as belittling other women.

And what.. lock away all men? Because funnily enough the dodgy ones don't come with a neon sign over their head.

Those figures are very interesting. I've looked at the Action Against Abduction website. The figures on their graph flatlined until 2014, then there was a huge step up in 2015 and 2016. They don't explain it in the text. I do wonder whether a lot of boogey men suddenly materialised in 2014, or whether it has something to do with reporting and recording.

I am sorry to hear that you have been attacked in an isolated place @FabulousKilljoys , but cannot understand then why you think "that the notion that weirdos are just laid in wait in random fields hoping for someone to come along is ridiculous"?

I'm a victim of stranger rape (sports field at the college I attended), and that has made me very aware of potential danger, even all these years later.

The comparison with driving risks made earlier is a stupid one from my experience. I've been in a very serious car accident, overall that caused me a lot less trauma than rape. It might be different for other people.

Sadly, it does make sense to be aware of potential risks. It should be 100% safe to do anything we want, but that is not the case today, and never will be.

I walk alone through fields and bridleways every day. The only dangers I am actually worried about are cows and traffic. I would feel less safe walking through some areas of cities at night.

--> that the notion that weirdos are just laid in wait in random fields hoping for someone to come along is ridiculous?

Typically these case are not a random place (but can sometimes be). In most cases, a rapist has typically scoped out a location, and has a plan, and is indeed waiting for the right person at the right time in the right situation.

Working in the legal area, and have been involved in many such cases over years.

I walk everywhere alone - woods, forests, hiking in hills. I mountain bike alone. Fields are involved. I'm a hobby photographer, so I can be found in forests in the early evening and the dawn for good light.

I'm not sitting at home waiting for a man to come along, I like being out. I don't need a chaperone. And I'm certainly not going to spend my life cowering indoors because of men.

Life's for living, not cowering.

Because it's no way to live. That's happened ONCE in all the times I've been alone in deserted places. I'm 45. So that's once in 30 years of wandering around living my life. And the one time it did happen does not define how I live my life.

@FabulousKilljoys I thought I was going to be killed.
It only takes once.
I thought I wasn't going to let it influence my actions, because then he'd "won", but ptsd thought differently.
Anyway, what I'm trying to say is that we're all different, and we, as women, should try to understand other women's choices.

Anyway, what I'm trying to say is that we're all different, and we, as women, should try to understand other women's choices.

I agree. But that extends to this women like me choosing to live our lives without worrying about what or who is round the corner every verse end.

No. I've been followed and flashed too many times growing up in farmlands. I would let my daughter either.

Definitely yes- Have always walked through fields alone since aged about 10 , and thankfully it’s been ok.

*that was meant to say "wouldn't let my dd"

Is it a designated public footpath? If so, you’re fine.

Be wary of cattle though, they can be dangerous if disturbed. If there are cows in the field it’s best avoided if possible.

I wouldn't think twice about it (apart from watching for cattle). I couldn't be one of these folk who won't walk in the countryside or after dark. Stranger attacks are rare and it's a risk I'm willing to take.

YANBU, i would walk through a field alone too.

I don’t think twice about it either. It would seriously affect my day to day life if I did.

Until my NT membership lapsed I used to regularly walk through a field of long horn cattle alone apart from my dog. It was part of a designated route. They are fine as long as you don't get between them and their calves or try to get them to move off the footpath.

I meant to say I don't think you are being unreasonable if you feel safe.

It's going be very based on personal experiences and sense of space too.
I think women who mock others for not feeling safe or say they are overreacting etc just (luckily) don't have the same experiences that other women might have.

However if you feel safe... that's your sense of safety in a space that you can trust - and that's your instinct, then that's you being in control of your own life.