Walking alone at night

I wouldn’t go out for a walk after dark. I drive to choir and there is a car park outside, so that’s OK. When it comes to the concert, it is in a big hall in the city with no adjacent parking, so I normally go on the bus. I don’t much like the walk to the bus stop afterwards, or if I miss a bus, hanging around for the next one, and especially since Covid when not so many people are in town.
I go to Aldi on foot after dark about 8.30pm, but it is just over the road and well lit up. I have no fears about that.
There’s no way I would walk back from the train station alone after dark.

When I was younger I used to catch what was then called a workman’s bus if I had a night out. . Used to aim for one about 1a.m. They used to run about every hour during the night to get night workers to shift work. They would be mainly men on them and you always felt so safe because if a drunk got on and bothered you they were always told to “leave the young lady alone”. I would then walk up my road about a 10 minute walk and never worried about the dark. Would often see a Bobby on his beat to pass the time and he would always say “take care my dear” Was living alone so no parents to worry about me, and always felt so safe. Would I have let my daughters do the same now or do the same myself now definitely not. How times change

I will walk at night in busy well-lit main streets locally. Not sure if I would walk in secluded areas or after 11pm. It's not just because I'm a woman it's just because mugging and violent attacks have happened locally, not often, but always in the dark. A lot of our local attacks have been on young men, stabbings or muggings.

I do a 30 minute walk around 8.30 pm every night from my partners to my own home. I feel reasonably safe as we are in a rural area. The road is lit up all the way.

I walk alone. I don't feel scared. Maybe I'm just stupid but nothing's gone wrong. Yet. Apart from the time I tripped over and 2 lovely young men came and picked me up. Didn't run off with my handbag either. I think most men are decent. Sarah's friend wrote a lovely piece about how worried they were at the anti men mantras that were going on after her death.

www.spiked-online.com/2021/03/13/this-is-not-what-sarah-would-have-wanted/

No. Two incidents in my life, one when I was 9 and one in my early 20s. Even now I am 70 in the daylight if I find myself in an isolated place with a man or men nearby I either stop and face them and pretend to me using my phone or I run. I prefer to be in busy areas. To me it is more about isolation rather than the dark. It only takes one weirdo to ruin your life.

There is no doubt that recent events have put fear into a lot of people. The incidences of attacks and killings are few but it still means that women have to be cautious. And just because we are older does not mean that we are less at risk. I know one young women who was raped by a stranger on a street but most violence towards women goes on behind closed doors either as date rape or in marriages and relationships.
I live near the sea and go for long walks but if there are no people about I don't feel at ease at any time of day and especially when its getting dark. I would walk locally as there are always people around. It's always been like this for women...nothing much has changed.

Why take the risk if you don’t need to The world is not a safe place anymore being brave or in denial won’t keep you alive and safe anymore stay at home don’t go out alone

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

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 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.

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 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 .

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.

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.

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....

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'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?

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

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!

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 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.

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 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.

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