Do you walk alone?

[Cwenthryth]

Not necessarily strictly a feminist discussion I guess more a personal one, but your brains are the ones I’d like to talk about this with

I was walking my dogs this morning very early, before 6am, in the forest - it was beautiful, felt like had the world to ourselves, with just a few bunnies and cows to share the glorious sun burning off the morning dew. Didn’t meet another soul the whole time and my car was the only car in the car park when I arrived, there was one other when I left.

I was thinking however as I was walking that perhaps I am quite vulnerable doing this, although I don’t feel any fear - when younger I backpacked around the world solo etc, it’s just never occurred to me to worry. But this is what happened to Julia James isn’t it. Just walking her dog.

Do you walk alone? Do you take any emergency supplies with you like rape alarms etc?

Yes. Try to hang on to the fact that is statistically very unlikely that anything will happen to you. You can't let fear curtail your whole life.

Sadly, I don't think a rape alarm would have helped in this case. Isolated spot, the dog in distress didn't bring anyone.
I'm also not even sure how useful rape alarms are. For a start I don't think people would necessarily identify a rape alarm as that- likely to block it out like other urban noise. Secondly, you'd have to set it off timed right. As someone who was rugby tackled from a man by behind (thankfully a mugging) I can't see many situations where you'd get much warning- particularly as women are trained to swallow their discomfort to hope to avoid escalation.

I think the answer is more identify these people early, monitor and get them off the street. Re-educate and reset society to not put up with rampant misogyny and harrasment.

That of course is far too much effort when police can just tell women to curb their freedom.

Yes I always do. I'm big and tall though which makes me feel safer than smaller women I think. There are places near me I won't go to at night alone because there's a lot of pubs / late night shops in quite a small area and it's full of weird and dangerous men.

Yes.

Even in the dark.

I can also run quite fast and have my defences all prepared should the unlikely event occur

Yes, I do, and I won't be scared into not doing so.

Yes.

Yes, depending on the isolation or time of day/night, I've had some unnerving incidents/near-misses.

Nothing will stop me from doing this - I'm aware of the risks that I run and that in the event something occurred, I would be victim-blamed.

I do locally but not in woods etc. I know statistically it's very unlikely anything would happen but I don't like it if someone walks behind me during the day in quiet but not lonely streets. I do have issues with trusting men though. I only trust a select few. I don't like having workmen in the house without my husband home for example.

Yes, always have.

I try to balance risk Vs freedom.

The only time I felt really vulnerable was when a rapist on campus hadn't yet been caught. So I changed my walking route which cut through the grounds near to one of the attacks to a main road.

I specifically didn't go to a high street today on my own due to the risk of mugging (?) in a very rough area. I was planning to and really needed some items from a shop there but I decided in the end it just isn't worth the risk. I've gone without instead.
It's a shame we have to think about these things.

I'm tall and a good runner. I'm very, very strong for a woman. It didn't stop a man being able to come up behind me and throw me to the floor. The only way I could have got away was if I'd have listened to my instincts and ran when I first saw him behind me.
He was not white though so I thought such an action would be rude stereotyping.
I'm not saying don't go out. And I am certainly not saying it was because he wasn't white. I'm saying that you should trust your instincts. Something primitive in me knew he meant me harm but 'be kind' over rode it. I'm also saying that the women who find themselves in these situations didn't do anything wrong. Being louder, stronger, faster etc. all boils down to a big fat nothing when someone wants to do you harm.
These women were simply unlucky. We should be looking into what we can do to prevent crimes from the perpetrators side, not the victims.

I’ve always walked alone. Can’t see that changing any time soon.

Yes. I walk and run alone in rural Hampshire.

I work on the basis that most rapists hang around bars and nightclubs. And as I'm single I'm at little risk of DV.

If I'm in a city (not very often) I always get a cab after dark.

What happened to Julia James was terrible. Now think of all the women who walk their dogs every day of the year, sometimes twice a day, here in the UK. A statistician will be along shortly to correct me, I'm sure, but your chances of being attacked by a stranger while walking in the countryside are extremely low.

We are statistically far more likely to be badly injured or die in a car crash, yet we get into the car every day without a second thought.

If I go walking in an area that I know is quite deserted I take a fully charged mobile phone. Not because I'm scared of being attacked by a stranger, but in case I sprain an ankle or get lost or if the dog gets into trouble. He's too big for me to carry home if he hurts himself.

@Mintjulia I run and walk alone in rural Hampshire too.

Bloody lovely at this time of year. Me and the dogs at 5am with the cuckoos and chalk stream river.

I always walk alone and run in the dark too with a head torch, though oddly only in the morning, I am convinced rapists only get their kicks after 6pm

Yes, always. I’m single and live alone so the poor dog would never get walked if I didn’t. Plus I love walking alone and do so everywhere from town parks to isolated forests where I literally didn’t see anyone else all day. I take the gamble that such attacks are rare and vanishingly so in the countryside and I’m willing to take the risk. I don’t do it at night though: I stick to well lit streets, though I don’t avoid whole areas for being ‘rough’. Lived in a supposedly ‘rough’ bit of london for years and actually felt very safe walking there after dark as there were always so many people around, lots of 24-hour open businesses like corner shops, petrol stations and minicabs to go for help if needed (it never was). I’ve actually felt more scared in a nice rural town, when I really was followed once after dark and there was nobody’s round to help and nowhere to go, though I got to where I was staying fine.

No, I don’t walk/jog alone early morning or late at night, and I wouldn’t feel comfortable walking alone in our local woods either.

I find it quite restrictive for exercising in winter, but I wouldn’t feel safe (live in a city).

Yes. Including walking back from town alone at night (back when we used to go out in town.) And in the countryside. Also overseas.

If I wasn't going to walk anywhere on my own, I would rarely get to do anything at all, and it's been that way since I was late teens - am now late 40s.

I don't carry a rape alarm or anything. I do think about where I'm going, but that's more to do with leaving enough time to arrange time, and because I don't want to retrace my steps for 2 miles because I went in the wrong direction.

Yes, I do. However I'm 6'3, and not exactly slightly built, which rightly or not feels like it gives me a bit of security. I do also live in a very rural, quiet area where not much goes on.

Two women a week are killed by a partner or ex partner. I think that's gone up to three a week.

Women are much more at risk at home than walking outside.

And, despite all the publicity about keeping women safe, there's a significant funding shortfall for services to help the most at risk women.

Yes, I walk in the local woods alone, but I wouldn't go at night. Mainly because I'm a scaredy cat and don't like the dark. I would walk into and back from the centre of my v "nice" town, probably at any time of day and night as there is street lighting along the route.

I feel more uncomfortable alone on late night public transport, or in larger cities that I don't know well.

Yes. About 10 times a week. I have never once felt vulnerable. That's not in any way a criticism of women who do feel vulnerable of course. I am lucky to live in a very safe kind of area. Yes of course a random assailant could crop up anywhere, however safe the area appears, but the probability is so tiny that I don't give it a thought tbh. I'm more concerned about spraining my ankle or something. I have a large dog which might put off a potential attacker, but he (the dog) would probably be terrified. I'm far more likely to come to harm in a car accident, and we all seem to get in cars without much fear.

I do in fields and coastal areas where I can see anyone approaching. I have done woodland walks on my own but I feel more vulnerable and end up not enjoying it so it's rare. I always have my phone with me when I walk.

Not in isolated areas.
I live in a town centre so I'll happily walk home from town in the dark as there's always people around and I walk past houses. But I wouldn't run through a quiet wood in the daytime.

@idontlikealdi

Yes, I do, and I won't be scared into not doing so.

Same.

I walk my dog at 5am every morning. Only round the housing estate. I only wear my earphones during the summer months when the mornings are light. I constantly feel uneasy during the winter months (doesn't help that my dog is a wuss). I usually keep my key between my fingers in my pocket.