Do women walk alone at night

[aDayattheLido]

Do you?
Do women you know?

DNiece is at university. She came to visit me the other weekend. Her train back to uni was going to arrive after dark. I gave her some money for a taxi from the station to her halls. She said "oh I'll just walk" (but still took the £20 🙂). She says she walks back from the library and her part time job.

Is this normal or do women walk in pairs/packs or get a taxi?

(btw This was discussed on another thread but before anyone cries "TAAT" I'm just interested in chatting about it further)

I do, but I live in a really safe area and don't feel unsafe at all. I'll walk home from the bar in the middle of the night, or take an evening walk in the forest after dark (but I draw the line at a midnight walk on Halloween... too spooky, did it once with DD and decided never again).

I wouldn't feel comfortable walking alone at night in some other places, I had to do it once in St. Petersburg when my (horrid) boyfriend at the time just left me at a nightclub and I had to get back to the hotel, and was absolutely terrified the entire walk (thankfully short, hotel was only about 10 minutes away)

I do and I will continue to do so unless it’s obviously high risk (an unlit alleyway in a very deprived area for example).

I try to avoid places where there are likely to be a high concentration of drunk men (pubs at kicking out time) but mainly because they make me annoyed rather than because I feel threatened.

Partly because I am bloody minded and I am damned if I will have my activities curtailed by the theoretical threat of male violence.

But mainly because strangers are not the biggest threat to women’s safety and it annoys me that this myth is still used to restrict us. By far the biggest threat to women’s safety is from men they know, not randoms on the street at night.

Surely it depends where you live/where you are? In my university town everyone walked or cycled everywhere, but if you were walking home late there were always plenty of other students around doing the same thing.

I live in Edinburgh city centre, and walk home late. Last time I walked home I realised how busy it was out (around 1am) and that made it feel safe - there was no part of my route where I was anything like alone. But I live centrally just off a busy road with bars and stuff so there’s lots of people out at that time.

Would I walk home in a remote/quiet area or a rough part of a town I didn’t know? Probably not. But it’s all circumstances, risk assessments.

Yes, I have always done it - I avoid parks and if possible I try to cycle but I walk on my own all the time.

I only know two women who never walk on their own at night.

always walk or run wherever I need or want to go, whenever I want to go there.

I often walk or run at night alone on purpose because it’s lovely.

headtorch on for the hills, fields and moors.

It would have been utterly impossible to avoid it throughout my life and now I actively enjoy it. And I wear headphone most of the time too.

I teach my dd to walk wherever she needs to and not to be scared of the dark.

Are you asking me?

I live in a rural area, get the train into the town where I work and then walk home from the station alone in the dark. So yes, I do.

DD has a part time evening job in a local restaurant. She finishes between 11 and midnight and DH insists on driving her home rather than her walking for 10 mins in the dark. I don't know how he'll cope when she goes to uni.

I do and always have but I don't feel comfortable doing it late at night. I don't like being in Ubers on my own so often prefer public transport and walk. Actually feel more uncomfortable since my area has been made a 'low traffic neighbourhood.' Hardly ever go out at night these days unless I'm driving.

No I wouldn't, it's too risky in the world we live in.. sadly

It's dark when I go to and from work in the winter so can't afford not to walk or use the bus for that! Unless it's not convenient to get the bus I'd always use the bus home if i'd been out in the city centre and then walk from the bus stop. I walked a couple of miles home from an event last weekend but it was only 9:30 and along main roads all the way.

I go walking with a few friends a couple of times a week around 7-9. We're often noticeably the only females about though.

I often walk home alone after a night out too. The wait for a taxi is usually over an hour and the walk is 15 mins. Sometimes I've waited for a taxi and been hassled by a bloke in the queue or the taxi driver has been a bit odd, asking if my husband is home etc. Walking usually feels safer to me.

I do and always have. I go to the woods alone at night too. When not in the woods (which frankly feel quite safe) I am careful about which route or which areas I choose. But honestly I've never had that dark = danger thing that many people in the UK seem to have.

I do all the time.

The risk of something happening is pretty low. And it's impractical and costly to get a taxi everywhere.

Plus in the winter it's dark by 5pm!!!

I do, frequently. But I live in a semi rural area and feel 90% safe. I often walk the country lanes and town streets in the dark.

I would do with no consideration for time off I wanted or needed to. Had a period of insomnia and would walk streets locally at 1am.

Dd is 16 and walks to from gym in dark this time of year but will walk along street route rather than nature trail which is unlit.

Of course! It would be incredibly limiting and expensive not to.

I used to walk home from my part time job when I was a student and from nights out. I still walk home after a night out if the distance is walkable. Or I get a bus on my own, and walk at either end.

There might be times and places I would be less likely to but generally take sensible precautions and get on with it.

I do. I've always lived in low risk areas, though. I'm not sure what my answer would be if I lived somewhere else.

He was quite close @InCheesusWeTrust. A few metres behind. I agree that my anxiety isn’t someone else’s responsibility, and he didn’t do anything wrong*, but I do also believe common sense and courtesy go a long way. I probably wouldn’t walk close behind an elderly person at night, for example, because they are more vulnerable than I am and I don’t want to make them feel unsafe. (Chances are an elderly person will be going much slower than me so I would overtake them, but you get the point).

*He didn’t do anything ‘wrong’ but he did wave his umbrella in the air and start chanting/singing as he went on his way, so I felt a bit more wary of him then and was glad I’d put some distance between us 😂

Always have done since I was 13 and doing a paper-round in the dark. I've backpacked alone all over Scotland and regularly walked home in London from tube/ station.

I wear boots or shoes that I can run in and always trousers. I never wear headphones at night. I consider the bag I'm carrying - make sure it's tight to my body and can't be used to grab or pull me about.

I try and use well lit areas and avoid parks/back alleys etc. I make sure I know the area and have 'escape routes' if something is bothering me. If I have someone behind me I cross the road and then slow down so I can see them and assess them.

I try to keep situational awareness at all times, have keys in my pocket and never have a phone or purse on display.

That said I've had more problems on busy London Public transport than walking alone. I now make sure I have my back to a solid wall and hold my bag directly in front of me.

I do. I don’t wear headphones though.

I’m the opposite, I didn’t walk alone when I lived in a town but I feel totally safe in my tiny village.

My daughter has just started at a city Uni and is walking everywhere. She phones me if she’s walking alone and has started self defence classes. I have just visited overnight and to be honest the streets seem as busy at 2am as they do in the daytime (bloody noisy students!) and it didn’t feel unsafe. But it is still a worry, especially with darker evenings approaching as she still seems oblivious to her surroundings. She likes to walk through an unlit park rather than stick to the lit streets because it’s pretty 🙄.

We have told her we will pay her Uber bill whenever she feels she needs or wants one (she’s not the type to abuse this).

I do, I work on the night shift, leave house around 10pm. Luckily not too far to walk, I do carry a panick alarm keyring with me though.

It depends

upon where you live (busy areas are usually fine, with the obvious exception of areas busy with groups of drunken men) quiet unlit areas obviously often more dangerous.

upon how old they are (I do feel slightly safer as a middle aged woman and would walk alone myself to accompany teen DD back in the dark in certain circumstances)

On their confidence and familiarity with their surroundings - a confident person is slightly less likely to get attacked and slightly more likely to be able to get themselves out of a potentially unpleasant or difficult situation, but obviously only slightly, it's not a guarantee of safety by any means.

on whether they have a choice.

I do, but then I also travel alone and stuff. I'm not living my life in fear. I'll walk alone where I please.

I lived in London for more than 20 years from the age of 21 and always walked home through the local park from my tube station. About half a mile, some of it on a busy road and then a few minutes through a park. Never felt unsafe. Walk around central London alone at night still when I go there. Never had a problem.

I happily walk in my local area at night. The chances of being attacked here in the UK are low and if you walk confidently and avoid the worst spots you should be okay. I hate this idea that as well as the hair and beauty tax, and the period tax, women must also pay the taxi tax. We need to be out there on the streets, visible and confident.