to think that grown women should not to too scared to walk home alone after dark?

[nicepasta]

I live in a small town.

When we go out or to meetings, none of my friends ever walk home alone. It really annoys me. They say it is too dangerous. They spend ages working out who is giving lifts to who - and these people all live within half a mile of wherever we are going.

Our town is no more dangerous than any others. They all seem to be convinced that there is a really high risk of being attacked. They always tell me that I shouldn't walk home by myself. I think it is utter nonsense.

AIBU?

Also, as far as I know precisely no women of my acquaintance have been attacked (by a stranger - boyfriends/husbands another matter, unfortunately) but the vast majority of my male friends have been started on at some point, sometimes with serious results. I think there are quite a few men (let's face it, we are told the threat is mostly from men) who would 'never hit a woman, it's not on' but would happily kick the shit out of another man for some minor thing.

Very true inmylittlehead - for the same reason that, when things have kicked off in some of my working environments, my boss has sent ME to deal with it (5 foot weed) instead of a 6-foot bloke.

"I remember think at the time of the Yorkshire ripper that all the women had been alone in the dark - why run an unnecessary risk?"

How can you say, for one moment, that the victims of the Yorkshire Ripper were running 'unecessary risks'? ???? That is quite baffling.

I would walk through well lit built up residential, areas early evening, but not remote rurual settings, parks and commons etc, especially late at night and in the early hours. Each person has a threshold of what they feel comfortable in doing and should be respected not belittled.

I was mugged and beaten by a group of girls

oh no shopalot girls can be very nasty and violent not only men. Girl gangs etc

MP - well, of course. However, if someone approaches you with ill-intent, saying 'stand back there you felon you, I have a perfect right to walk alone,' doesn't tend to cut the mustard.

Obviously, you'd be saying 'stand back there,' not them..

I would be more likely to say "YOUNG MAN HOW DARE YOU"

However I REFUSE to accept that I am running a risk which mitigates in any way the 100% responsibility of the perpetrator of crimes against women

It's true that fear of being outside after dark, and social disapproval of women who do walk home alone, are giving the streets back to violent men.

But I'm not sure I'd be prepared to risk my safety in the cause, IYKWIM. (Although I do walk home after dark as it happens, as my perception is I'm quite safe round here.)

Fibilou's quite right - while statistics tell us about the population risk, for individuals it's binary - you either are attacked, or you are not. Although I suppose you can say I've walked alone on 100 occasions and have only been attacked once, so there's a 1% risk for me, I'm not sure that would be much comfort if it did happen.

It was a girl gang who mugged my friend the second time. They were quite vicous, they ripped his shirt and he had scratches on his face/arms/neck. He said there was one young lad with them, who had to tell them to stop and dragged them off, before they chased him home

I have been attacked, more than once, but never when I've been on the street alone after dark.

Yes I've known a few men who've been attacked, but I wouldn't think twice about DH walking home from a night out

I'm not scared of walking alone on a dark night. But my husband thinks its utter madness - hes a police officer so his world has more crime in it than mine, iyswim.

Actually having said I walk home alone, there was one time when I got a bit scared and waited by a busy petrol station until a couple turned up the road to my house and tagged along with them. I was quite possibly being nervy for no reason but chose to listen to my instinct.

I'd be happy to walk alone anywhere and any time in the UK. FGS.

I suppose you have to weight up the risks of being attacked (and the consequences of that) against the disadvantages of being restricted in your movements and independence. We all take a different view of that. But I think it's important to realise that the world after dark isn't generally a terrifyingly risky place - and not to assume that you are asking for it if you go out alone.

According to the Home office website 3.2 % of the adult population were victims of violent crime in 2007/8. That is a pretty substantial figure !

Actualy if I am clubbing and basically naked then I do put jeans on to walk home

Maybe actually I'M mad

10 years ago I was attacked outside my house in broad daylight (1pm) and dragged into my house by a man. I was lucky. He panicked when I screamed at the top of my lungs right in his face and he eventually ran off. No one saw anything or came to help me. When the police later interviewed a group of workmen who had been a little way down the road at the time to whether they had seen or heard anything, they said, 'Oh yes, we did hear a woman screaming like she was in pain but didn't think anything of it.'
My point is that the world unforunately has it's fair share of psychos and nutters who do not give a flying fuck what time of the day it is...if they see an opportunity to mug/rape/attack someone they'll do it.
I don't know if there is an increased risk at night but it can happen during the day to when people are caught off guard and think they are relatively safe.

Mp, mitigation is irrelevant.

There is no question of mitigation, of course it is the aggressor's fault.

BUT attacked is attacked even if you had right on your side.

Good debate. My instincts are with SGB and MP - and also Stayfrosty, who's still walking after dark when she feels confident enough, which is great.

I always used to walk home, mostly alone, often pretty late/early, often after drinking (found it a great way to sober up a bit before bed). For a time my route home went through a red light district, and I actually found that reassuring - there were other people around, and one of the thoughts in my head was 'if it's on sale people are less likely to steal it'.

I always made a point of walking confidently - shoulders back, steady gait - and if I didn't know who's footsteps were behind me I'd turn and look or cross the road and see if they followed.

I was followed a couple of time in my youth - lcukily I knew the area better and ducked them. Didn't stop me.

The only thing that stops me now is not having any money to go anywhere

There are basic precautions you can take - keeping flashy jewellery under wraps, wearing your handbag under your coat etc, which make you less of a target. But you can do everything right and be attacked, you can get everything wrong and not be attacked, and the first is still less likely than the second IMO.

nicepasta - YABU!

I am 6ft, stongly built and fit but I would not walk around in the dark on my own. I am no ickle flower, I just wonder why I would give someone the opportunity to attack me if I can avoid it? Yes I am strong, but I should think a knife would have the same effect on me as it would on a dainty 5 foot woman.

Of course, in an ideal world, we could all walk around freely whenever we wanted. We don't live in an ideal world. A friend of a friend was raped and murdered whilst walking in the dark alone. It is rare, yes, but why would you take the risk and present an attacker with an opportunity if it can be easily avoided by sharing lifts?

I walked everywhere at night during the 25 years I lived in London, and the 3 years I spent as a student in the Midlands at a time when the Yorkshipper Ripper was still at large. But I won't let my DS (13 but looks at least 15) walk the half-mile from church youth club down a quiet residential street by himself after dark. Because he is statistically far more likely to be attacked that I am.

Our delightful historic tourist city sees a disproporionate number of muggings and random violent attacks, and the vast majority of victims are young men in their teens and twenties (traditional West Country pastime of student-bashing methinks).

I worry about DH cycling after dark to the late-night shop as well, lots of pissed-up boy racers round here who think it's fun to run cyclists off the road.

madamearcati - is there any breakdown of that 3.2% into attacks by strangers vs attacks by people known to the victim?

madamearcarti - those stats include domestic violence. And men are twice as likely to be victims of violence than women.