to think its no longer safe to walk home after a few drinks on a Friday night anymore in most places?

[molka]

I used to walk home alone late in the evenings/early hours as a teenager and in early 20s in a rural town. Felt safe enough.
DH and I both did it all the time in our uni city 10-15 years ago. Busy city, felt safe enough.
Now in a (smaller) major city, don't go out anywhere near as much but always feel a bit uncomfortable especially now its cold and dark. I am staying up till nearly 1am to pick DH up from the train station tonight - I wouldnt have felt this level of concern a few years ago. Am I turning into my mother or do others feel similar?

There's been stabbings/ assaults etc in the news in recent months (as there has probably in every major city). There was a very tragic death of a university student, supposedly a random unprovoked event.

I don’t think it was ever ‘safe’ but more people are aware of the dangers now

I live in a city (glasgow) and don't feel the same. I walk the dogs alone in the dark and also in secluded woods etc. But it's not about me, it's about how you feel. I do think I'd feel more unsafe in a city in England tbh but that's probably due to portrayal by the media. Bigger population so maybe more violence? Take care.

YABU. You say it's no longer safe in most places, but then are talking about stabbings etc taking place in most major cities. The vast majority of places are not major cities. Or cities at all, in fact.

I will continue to walk home. I am not scared and I do not assume the worst. I have the right to walk home and be safe. I refuse to stop doing what I should be able to do. I take sensible precautions but I have been walking myself home for many years and I intend to keep doing so.

..looks like nobody else feels the same!
why is it that 1am feels so much more dodgy than 8pm even though its dark both times?!

I know what you mean but think for me it's more to do with age and being much more aware of potential risk/danger than I was 15-20 years ago rather than actually things being any more risky.

It’s never been safe for women to walk anywhere alone. Night or day, to be honest, but especially after dark.

I live in a fairly rural town in Scotland and wouldn't think twice about walking home. Nothing ever happens here 🤞🏻🤞🏻

My in-laws live in a NW England town, very densely populated and they wouldn't dream of walking alone after dark. They have genuine fears about being attacked, even while they're here with us. It's quite shocking that people are actually scared.

Of course women are attacked randomly but it's vanishingly rare in the grand scheme of things.

Perhaps its all a perspective thing.. when I think back to being a student 10-15 years ago, we'd wear tiny bodycon dresses for nights out or the shortest of shorts (horrified now thinking back but was very much the norm) yet felt totally safe then, carefree wandering around, get a kebab on the way home etc.

I still do walk home on occasion now (only slightly tipsy at most but wouldnt take the car) and far more layers of clothes on yet still super vigilant.

It’s a result of your perspective changing OP. You are merely more aware of the dangers now - they haven’t changed. Aggressive men have always been a thing, sadly.

Very safe where I am. I quite often run into a neighbour and we have a bit of a chat, but when alone I've been fine.

I'm quite happy to walk in the dark in the Scottish town I live in.

Nothing's changed, we're just getting old.

When I was 20, I'd comfortably walk home alone after a night out on the piss. I wouldn't think about what could happen, I just wouldn't care. I was 20, I wasn't paying attention to the news, I'd not been beaten up for no reason yet, if I saw a group of 20 year olds walking towards me, I thought nothing of it, they're probably just heading home too.

Now I'm 40, I still walk home alone after a night out on the piss, but I'm less comfortable with it. I pay more attention to the news, so know what can happen. I've had the shit kicked out of me once for no reason and I've been mugged once. I see a bunch of 20 year olds walking towards me, they're younger and fitter than me, they're a risk.

Nothing has changed except my perspective. And I may be less comfortable with it, but I'm not going to stop walking home alone for a long time yet.

Point of context: I'm male, and understand that there are risks that I don't have to deal with that a lot of the userbase here does.

Absolutely

It's not changed, but you have.

I still walk home alone at night. I don't feel more or less safe than I did in my 20s. Despite Mumsnet trying to make everyone think an attacker is around every corner!

But I also think it's to do with familiarity - I walk home through an alley way, a park and another alley way. If I'm home late in winter then it's dark when I'm walking home, I also walk that way at night to the local shop. But it's a walk I do several times a week.

I agree with @fdgdfgdfgdfg

I would say your perspective changes as you get older.
My dc - all now in their 20s, but it was the same when they were late teens - all do things that I did when I was their age, but I wouldn't necessarily do now. I worry about them sometimes, even though I know they are pretty worldly and pretty good at risk assessing and - as I said - just doing the same as we did 30+ years ago.

Meh I walk around Tottenham late at night after a few drinks all the time and never felt unsafe.

I would (and did) walk home in a large city (busy, late night shops/takeaways open, street lights, buses and cars trundling past, etc). In my current small, sleepy town? Nope.

I'm definitely more aware of danger as I get older. More risk averse. But I don't think the risk has changed that much where I am.

I don't feel the same but I live a safe small city in Scotland. Often appears on the safest city lists etc.

I am sure I would feel differently if I lived elsewhere.

It’s never been safe for a woman to wander the streets at night drunk. Maybe due to the way we get news so quickly now we’re more aware, but regardless of whether you wandered round tipsy in a bodycon dress at 1am years ago, it was as unsafe as it is now.

I've seen a lot of attention on twitter recently about how now it's winter women's lives essentially shut down as we don't go out after dark, I cannot relate to that in any way. I still walk back from the station on my own late at night whether I've been drinking or not, I often run after 9pm. I'm not going to have restricted access to the world because of a potential threat.

I grew up in a then rough part of London so was always very careful. Now I see people jogging at night in the park with headphones on & think they must have moved here recently!

Nope, not having it - I think that's old lady thinking (I'm a gimmer by the way). There's nothing inherently more safe or dangerous about day or night, town or city. I wouldn't walk along a minor unlit road drunk in the dark but that's because I'd probably get hit by a car.

An activity I do changed location and three of the ladies dropped out because their travel would mean a ten minute walk through a busy city street at 9pm and they were too scared to do it. That was a real wake up call to me, you cant let these thoughts in.

I would never have walked alone at night. I was at uni in the city I think you’re talking about almost 20 years ago and there were multiple women who’d been raped walking home alone and we had it drilled into us never to do it.

I’m in a nearby town now and walked the 40 mins home alone last Friday at 10pm. My partner was not impressed and said I should have been safe and got a taxi.