Walking alone at night

I agree with everything Grandma2213 has said.
Nothing is going to stop me going out at night alone apart from bad health. There are plays, meet ups and concerts awaiting and now restrictions are easing up, off I go.
(Taking care of course).

I avoid being out on my own at night, always have done. I was a student in Sheffield at the time of the Yorkshire Ripper, and it was drummed into us not to go out alone. The warning stuck with me!

My daughter has to walk back to her car from work. The car is in a well lit car park, but accessed via a subway under the ring road. I have always felt this was dangerous, but she says there are lots of people using it.
However, now fewer people are in their offices ( and in town generally), the subway is quieter. Another lady in her office, more my age than hers, suggested they walk back to their cars together. Not always easy to arrange, as some people work overtime, but doable.
My daughter asked " Have you been talking to my Mum?" {smile} She does now walk with this lady, and I feel she is safer.
xx

My biggest fear is forgetting my torch. Went out one evening and the street light was out - it is so dark here that I couldn’t find my drive! Took my phone out to ring OH to turn on outside light and remembered the torch facility on it ?

When I was a schoolgirl travelling on the train, often alone, I came across "Flashers" frequently. I told my mum who said I should always get into a carriage with a woman in it already. She also said that the ones who flash are not the ones who rape and murder (How did she know that!) In those days there were Ladies Only carriages but sometimes men got in.
Also there were carriages with no corridor through so the woman might get off before I did. and leave me alone with the scary male.
I was thoroughly spooked.
www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-34061094
Out in the fields with nobody around I don't feel scared.

I do go out at night on occasion, but try to take sensible precautions, therefore park in a well lit place, ideally at the place I am visiting or very close to it, tell people where I’m going, have a fully charged phone with me, etc. Nothing is foolproof, of course, but we can only do what we can do to make ourselves as safe as possible. As regards walking anywhere in the dark, if it’s late, I’d rather not, certainly not alone.

I live in London and , without taking unnecessary risks ie shortcuts through parks or alleys have always gone out at night and will continue to do so. We can’t and shouldn’t change our lifestyle due to fear.

I totally agree Nanna58. the rules you follow are also the ones that many men follow as well, for fear of being mugged for a watch or their wallet, attacks that are as likely to leave the victim injured or murdered as random attacks on women

I've always loved walking in the dark so it wouldn't bother me. Having said that I do take care - I stay alert and aware of what is happening around me, don't go anywhere too secluded and I carry my phone and a very loud whistle in my pocket.

I walk everywhere I can, and always have done, all over the world, and the only time I nearly came to harm was at home in Wales when I was in my teens when someone attacked me 20 yards from my front door late one night. I luckily wasn't harmed but it shook me up for a while and taught me a lesson. Like some others my main worry these days is falling over!

Maybe I’m strange but I don’t want to go out walking after dark.

I walk in very isolated places but not in the dark as there is no lighting.
Attacks can happen during daylight hours too but as others have said they are rare.

I don’t walk about when it’s dark, and don’t go to isolated places either.
Age doesn’t matter ( as in, in not just younger women and girls who become targets.)

I rarely go out at night, but in winter I do walk in the dark both morning and evening with my dog. I live in a very rural area, no streetlights and I'm used to it, love it in fact.

Someone recently said on here that women should think about what they wear and where they go. The following night I was on the coast path at dusk, wearing shorts and thought 'Good grief, should I worry about this? I've never worried before but have I been gung-ho?' Saw only horses and sheep and came home safe realising that fear is a great limiter. It must be very worrying for women who live and work and in the city right now knowing winter nights are coming.

When we were farming I didn’t worry about walking around the fields in the dark, it never crossed my mind to be nervous.
Now I’m much older I am definitely more cautious about a lot of things; I would happily walk DDog at night around here (very quiet estate, fairly well lit) but would never do so in a nearby town or city.
I worry more about falls than being attacked I think.

I walk around the farm at night - with a very good torch and I walk through the local town at night after cinema or meeting so not very late - usually not after 11.00pm. Wouldn't fancy walking through a London Park alone at night. Have only been attacked/mugged once and that was in broad daylight!

I never walk alone at night. Haven't since I was young

I've always hated the dark since I was a small child and have had some scary experiences in the past.

As soon as the light starts to fade, I draw all the blinds and curtains to shut out the night. Can never understand why - in films - women are lit up as if floodlit on a stage at night while a stalker creeps around outside. (Yes, I do have a vivid imagination, I know ) Why don't they just draw the curtains?

Has never bothered me until recently but as DH has become increasingly frail and is only able to walk very slowly then I think we might look like easy targets. Luckily we don't venture out very much anymore in the evening and would only be walking from venue to car and car to house.

I do, as I am single and don’t drive. If I didn’t go out I would rarely see any of my friends. I live in a high crime area, but if I time it right I can get a bus connection that avoids the dodgy streets and drops me closer to home. Otherwise I take the longer bus route and walk in the middle of the road until I get home. Most of the crime is gang or drug orientated. I try not to get home after 10pm, but one glass leads to another....

We live rurally, after dark can be anything after 4pm when winter draws in.

Usually DH is around, but if I am alone then I will occasionally walk in the dark without him. I don’t want to be afraid, I don’t want to be cowed by the possibility that I could be attacked.

Personally, I love walking and I enjoy the changing of the seasons.

It seems like such a terrible situation that women are to be prisoners in their own homes for much of the day as the result of the actions of a few men (the statistics overwhelmingly confirm that it is usually men who commit violent crimes).

I am far from thinking that all men are bad, the vast majority are not.

I want to see better education for men, and even a specialist number or simple action that women can press on their mobile phone while it is in their pocket, so that the police can triangulate a call when a woman is alone and worried.

My opinion is that too much emphasis is put on women’s behaviour, rather than men’s.

Just now I'm only driving to Sainsburys after dark (quiet shopping 7 - 9). But if I want to go on foot - flat shoes, covered hair and strobe torch handy. I don't 'worry' as such but try to stay alert! - I'm in a small town where the street lights go off after midnight so that's a bit of a nightmare.

I walk my 2 dogs at night. It's dark by 7 pm in this part of Scotland. I walk in a fairly built up area but there are woods and a local park on one side of the road. I don't like coming across so many people totally dressed in black, both male and female. They seem to appear out of the shadows between street lights. I do wear a white jacket and have 2 little white dogs. So can be easily seen. I've been a bit uncomfortable occasionally with coming across strangers but never been very scared. I do carry whistle on a chain, but have never needed to make use of it .

I used to volunteer at a local cinema on weekend afternoons and in exchange they would give you a free ticket. I went to evening performances, but walking home even in our gentle community was full of fear. There were pockets of darkness - at first, it was streetlamps needing repair, but then the County Council decided to save money by switching all streetlights off altogether. I felt so unsafe I gave up going to the cinema altogether.

I haven't walked out alone at night for years, it's not something I would feel comfortable doing or what Mr. S. would want me to do.

Also there were carriages with no corridor through so the woman might get off before I did. and leave me alone with the scary male.

This happened to me many times in my 20s. One time a man sat opposite me masturbating while looking at me, and I was too afraid to step over his legs to pull the emergency cord.

I don't go out much at night mainly due to my age but I think the media are doing their usual scaremongering again I don't think the streets are any less safe than they were 30 years ago