Walking alone at night

I let my niece travel home alone in the dark the other night as knew it wasn't far from her home. She's in her thirties and used to it. I didn't worry at all. Won't be ruled by fear.

The rules for walking out at night are the same for men and women. Avoid narrow and/or unlit paths, parks and the like. Stick to main roads and well lit streets and be aware of what is happening around you.

Attacks like the two recent ones are very rare indeed. It is the man in the home who is hundreds of times or more, more likely to attack a woman than the unknown man in the street.

Nothing has changed (over centuries probably)

It's nothing to do with current events. Even as a teenager in the 50s I wouldn't have dreamed of walking out after dark alone. It's also got nothing to do with being female. Everyday the papers are full of young men being attacked. We all owe ourselves a duty of care, and that doesn't amount to victim blaming, it's just common sense!

No! I won't live under a curfew no matter what - but I am a bit more nervous so I've bought a personal alarm, I keep a couple of small spray cans in my bag, one of wd40 and one of hairspray, and if I get a bit shaky I carry my phone in my hand and make a video of everything - makes me feel a bit better - I live alone and distrust taxi drivers, all male and I've had some bad experiences, so I have no other choice or I would never go out of an evening

Naninka I’m surprised one of them (the couple) didn’t offer to walk you home the short distance in the dark after babysitting for them.

I will walk the dog on dark evenings in my local town, not much choice really as my dog still expects his walk. I feel quite safe but certainly wouldn’t go onto the field or down paths where I’d happily venture during the day. After dark I stick to the local streets where there are plenty of houses and street lights. If going out late in the evening I would never walk home alone now, I usually drive or get a lift. Quite often these awful crimes we hear about happen in broad daylight so best to be cautious at all times of day or night.

Once it's gone dark I don't like walking the 50m to my car.

If I'm out at night I take easy and sensible precautions: Only walk on well lit roads, walk near the edge of the pavement where car drivers can see me and where it would be difficult to drag me into a garden or laneway, and have my door keys in my hand so I can get into the house quickly.

I returned home last night at 23.45 after dinner with former colleagues - travelled by tube & bus.

I plan my journey and know exactly where I'm going and strut along with a purpose in my step!

We have to be mindful of surroundings but not cowed into staying indoors at night for the next five months.

I don't think I have ever walked alone at night since I became a car owner at the age of 23 - 57 years ago. When driving alone through city streets in the dark, I always locked myself in the car.

I live in London and have never worried about going out at night. I am not stupid, I don't cut through alleys or cross parks etc in the dark but I am happy to walk from the train station to my home whatever the time. We have to bear in mind that these sort of attacks we have seen recently are very few and we can't let them dictate our lives.

When I was a student many many years ago I was followed one night when walking from bus to halls of residence. He caught up with me as I ran to the door and shouted obscenities at me. It happened to other girls too and the police were involved. I remember them saying that places where young women lived were targeted by these horrible men. I wouldn't go out on my own at night.

I have never felt uncomfortable- but I've only ever lived in villages.
Earlier this evening I babysat for a local couple and walked home alone afterwards (3 mins). I texted the couple to say I was home.
I worry more about my son and daughter (both mid-thirties) who live in nearby cities. Both are out at night (she's a nurse and he's a shift worker).
I don't trust the police either.

In the rural village we now live in I have no worries at all about being out at night. Rarely see another soul at night anyway. We always carry torches as there is almost no street lighting, we're in a dark skies area. Beyond the village there is no lighting at all, no pavements and very narrow roads so not very safe for walking day or night.

Living in London in my youth I never worried about going out at night even to very rough areas, and apart from being followed a couple of times I never had any problems. But by the time we left London (I was 61 then) I had become increasingly wary of being out after dark and always carried a pepper spray and a personal alarm in my pocket. It seemed like someone was attacked in our area every week. It was one of our reasons for moving, we wanted to feel safe where we lived, and we do.

I can't remember the last time I went out at night ! But a good question .

I am rarely bothered about going out in the dark - its my husband who worries. I make sure I am hyper aware of my surroundings, and have some self defence training. We also live in a fairly safe area. Going back a couple of decades when it was not so safe where we lived, lets just say I used to keep something in my pocket. I also think perpetrators pick certain types - some women scream "victim" with the way they hold themselves and looking really nervous. I am not the type of person they look for (neither young nor elderly) and I walk with confidence - the one time someone tried to mug me I fought him off, was wrestling with him in the middle of the street, adrenaline presumably and wouldn't advise anyone to do that. Sensible precautions obviously - I would not recommend anyone, male or female, to be walking through a deserted park/woods at night alone. Stick to well lit areas as much as possible. Carry a rape alarm if you like - they are deafening and will scare off most attackers. Shame we can't use mace/pepper spray here in the UK though.

And yes those who excuse cat calling and wolfwhistling have no idea how intimidating that behaviour can be.

I don't feel really safe, but I am tired of people saying women should be careful. How about men exercising self control. They always tell parents to protect their daughters. Well, I say parents of sons educate them, and teach them to respect women!

PS just wanted to add - for those who say that it is young men who are more likely to be attacked than young women - go out at night and just look at who is out at the same time. There are at least 10x more men out than women, so it's not surprising that more are attacked. It's a very misleading statistic.

For 3 years I lived in London in my 20's and used to regularly walk the road where Sarah Everard was kidnapped from - this was following police recommendations to always walk on a busy main road! Sometimes I was heckled, or things shouted at me from passing cars. Since then, I've been followed home from a pub (in a car - luckily I spotted him), a friend I was walking home with, until we parted ways was mugged (could have been me) and a man followed me home on foot (whenever I crossed the road, he would too - in the end I went to a brightly lit house and rang at the doorbell; he ran off then). I have never felt safe out at night but at least when I was younger I could run - not the case these days!

I don't go out at night on my own and never have. We were always expected to go out in pairs as an adoloscent so that is what I have always done. I don't think it matters whether we target misogyny, there will always be those with severe mental health issues who don't take their medicine and the like. Of course, they could strike in the day too but somehow it seems safer.

I rarely go out at night but if I am visiting one of my daughters I am quite happy to get the bus home mid evening as it is virtually door to door and the whole area is quite busy. The area of town where I live in particular has a nice little night time vibe with lots of quite upmarket pubs and restaurants. I sometimes walk home from the daughter’s house who lives closest, about fifteen minutes and feel quite safe on the busy roads. I would not like to think of myself as scared, just careful as I was when younger. Attacks do happen; there is a lot of wickedness in the world and I hope the present media campaign is successful in highlighting the dangers and how they can be prevented from happening in the first place and handled better by the police and courts if they sadly do.

I love to go down the the sea when it’s dark and walk along the Esplanade, no busy crowds and a full moon is always a bonus. Never been worried but have always had a personal alarm attached to my bag. If someone were to approach and I was unsure I would grab the alarm and pull if they took the bag they would be running through the streets with an earlier I alarm which would wake up half the town, if they attacked me I would fight back with all the strength I could muster and aim for their eyes. I have bought these alarms for my granddaughters and my friends. Some take them when walking the dogs to call for help if they fall.

Has it ever been any different? Walking home along country lanes as a teen I knew I was in danger and took avoiding action as a matter of course. I was once stalked by a car and managed to get home just as the car drove down our lane. My younger brother was the only one in and he grabbed the double barrelled shotgun, flicked all the outside lights on and we had a standoff. I mentioned it to him recently and he said that if anyone had got out of the car he was going to shoot. He would have been 15 at the time and that was over 50 years ago.