"Normal" advice to not walk around at night in Bristol.

[Motherfunster]

As a Bristolan woman I was a bit put out by the police advice that there was no specif threat to women but to take the "normal" precautions of not walking around after dark on your own.I was taken aback at this as theirs nothing bloody normal about it.

I tried contacting the local reclaim the night people but to no avail.The local students need to be advised and the bloody clicky feminist of Bristol need to understand that this is issue that need to be addressed.

I cant do anything about it do to certain circumstances.A word in there shell fellow Feminist MNers please if posable.

If there was a reclaim the night march now, a lot of us would go on it.

I'm not being obtuse, my response is my first and only response to the condemnation of the Police advice.

Really? Not even in the winter when it gets dark at about 4pm?

What about going out in the morning - I have had jobs where I've set off before it was light. One particularly memorable one where I had to catch the bus at a quarter to six (hated it!).

How have you managed it?

ISNT, I think the people who have always managed it are very reliant on cars. Although even then I'm not sure how they can always manage to park so close to their destination that they can avoid walking to/from a car park.

But for those of us who don't drive it's very difficult to avoid walking anywhere alone after dark.

I live near Ipswich, and I had to go out after dark at the time the murders were committed. The thing that made me feel less safe than usual was the fact that other women were avoiding going out, so the streets were even more deserted than usual.

But if I had not gone out, I wouldn't have been able to collect ds from cubs, and do other activities I normally do. I'm not talking about a "night out" here, I'm talking about normal activities, and if this had happened a few years earlier, I would have had to walk to/from work regularly, as most of my shifts finished at 6 pm at the earliest (dark at that time of year).

Oh I see. What about before the driving years? I used to get the bus/tube around by myself after it was dark when I was in secondary school.

Do some people get driven literally everywhere by their parents, even when they're say 16?

It's not a lifestyle I can imagine, all that driving. And personally I don't think driving should be encouraged anyway, quite the reverse.

ISNT....I just never went alone, not that I stayed in every night!!

I think it is very unusual to be accompanied at all times between sunset and sunrise TBH, or in a car, and it is not desirable that we move to a society where that is the expectation and the norm for females.

My school bus didn't drop me off til 5pm when I was at secondary school - for several months a year that's after dark.

Last night I had to walk to the corner shop to get some bits and pieces, too short a distance to drive even if I had a car.

I find it hard to believe anyone over the age of about 14 never walks on their own after dark.

I walked 2 miles to school and the boys would ensure they picked me up from my door and dropped me at my door.

MUA...I am sure there are exceptions, but I would say that I never walked alone in the dark. I lived in a sweet shop and so my door was always open and parent/s were always there. I lived in the high street and the bus stop was 10 ft from my door. I went to college far away but the bus stop was outside college and my door. Then at Uni I lived on campus and then with four girls from my course.

When I worked in London, again, I lived with people I worked with.

I didn't never walk alone as a result of fear, I just never walked alone.

And your point is ..? That everyone should follow suit and never walk anywhere on their own?

No, I was subtly being accused of lying and so I put that little bit of nonsense to rest.

Ah OK. It is very unusual though!

It is a disgrace, of course it is. Although my friend who still lives in my home town was recently followed home by a man, when she started running so did he. When she hid in bushes near her home he looked for her up and down the road for over half an hour. The police believe he was the same man who sexually attacked a woman in a city 9 miles away...but they didn't even warn the public because they didn't want to alarm anyone./

No-one accused you of lying margaret. It's just absolutely mind-boggling, people are interested how it happened.

I don't see how your story helps though. Do you think that all women should be accompanied after dark at all times? That seems to be the gist of your point, and you hold up yourself as an example to show how everyone can do it.

The interesting thing of course is that you're more likely to be attacked by someone you know than someone you don't, so arguably women are safer walking home alone than with men they know, but that's another thread I guess.

"If there is to be a curb on people's freedom, it should be on men until this man is caught, otherwise people are giving in to terrorism against women"

Absolutely! When we went to Bristol last week there I saw at least 5 men running along the river alone after dark. No women. Why should women be forced to stay at home? I don't live there but if I couldn't get out pounding the pavement regularly I'd go quietly crazy! And why should I? I pose no threat to other people.

I used to live in Clifton...the street lighting is shit so loads of roads are really dark, there are loads of trees and shrubbery and houses set back far from the road...it is awful to walk around in at night - even at 5pm and so I used to try and drive when I could but even getting out of my car in the dark street used to freak me out

Glad we don't live there anymore tbh!

I am quite surprised at that Riven. I have recently moved to Bristol and i have found it one of the friendliest cities that i have ever lived. I have found everyone polite and helpful!

I live in the Clifton area and i have to walk around alone after dark. I don't have a choice.

ISNT...I'm not advising that people don't walk home alone, but I wouldn't.

This isn't about women, imo, this about safety especially right now. What do people want the Police to do? Issue a statement saying we know it's the murderers fault for being a murderer and so carry on, as you were, and we'll catch him!? It's an unusual crime and at the moment we think the man that killed Jo Yeates is someone that randomly chose her, took her somewhere and strangled her...but to avoid being sexist caryy on as you were everyone.

I ask my children to look both ways when crossing all roads, cars are dangerous.

In your first post you seemed to be saying that you had no issue with the original advice given by police though - which according to the OP was that women should follow the "normal" advice not to to be out after dark by themselves. Have I misunderstood your stance?

That wasn't part of the initial statement.

Motherfunster is wrong.