Women Are Sharing All The Ways They Protect Themselves While Running Alone
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Running can be a peaceful and reflective time to clear your head – but if you’re a woman these peaceful thoughts can easily be interrupted by hyper-vigilance for personal safety. Amanda Deibert, a writer for TV and comic books, proved just how frightening a simple run can be by tweeting out about the topic of running safety that was shared in her mom group.
Deibert then widened the question to Twitter, asking her followers for their own safety strategies, and it quickly went viral. Deibert used to be a runner, but now she mostly hikes and walks. The writer told BuzzFeed News, the response made her “sad,” with women sharing everything from photos with their large dogs to knives to pepper spray.
This writer’s twitter thread on the measures women runners take to protect themselves has gone viral and it’s eye-opening
Image credits: amandadeibert
Image credits: amandadeibert
Deibert told Good Morning America the reactions were astonishing, “When I was reading the thread that all just kind of hit me, that is something we all do, all the time, without thinking about it,” she told the outlet. “It speaks to how universal it is, that every woman does have an answer to this question.”
Image credits: amandadeibert
The original tweet prompted thousands of alarming replies
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Fisher Defensive Go Guarded Ring is a heavy-duty plastic serrated-edge weapon that is worn on any finger. The serrated edges can be used to fight off an attacker and even scrape off DNA. The product is convenient because does not need to be retrieved from a belt or fannypack, will not spray back on you, and will not be knocked out of your hand.
With women posting photos of special emergency gadgets
The SLFORCE Personal Alarm Siren is a security safe sound rape whistle. It works by pulling on the hand strap to activate a screaming siren of 130 dB – as loud as a military jet aircraft take-off – giving the runner vital seconds to flee the scene and immediately attract attention.
Or their large and intimidating canine running companions
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MMRM OK Printed Camping Opening Tactical Folding Knife Outdoor Survival Pocket Folding Blade Key Shaped Knife when folded looks an ordinary key. The total length is 12.7cm; blade length: 4.8cm; handle length: 7.5cm.
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Some women even had stories of how their equipment had save them already
The Pepper Spray Keychain for Women Blingsting Pepper Spray contains 10% Oleoresin Capsicum (OC) formula for maximum stopping power. This pepper spray projects 10-feet / 3 meters to prevent wind blowback. Pepper Spray is classified as an inflammatory agent and can immediately incapacitate and temporarily blind a potential attacker. The 1/2 ounce canister has up to 15 powerful bursts and can be replaced after use or expiration.
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It is alarming that this feeling of unsafety exists. However, for most Western countries at least it is a myth that the level of security is so low. Although many argue that guns are a way to protect freedom, I argue that doing everyday activities fully armed is a loss of freedom. Carelessness is not good, but constant vigilance means we are either too freightened or society has taken a wrong turn.
I’m sorry Petra but countries with stricter weapon laws have less violent crime. For example Homocide rates in the UK is 1 out of 100,000, Australia is 1.1 out of 100,000, Sweden is 0.9 out of 100,000 but the US which has lax weapon laws is 4.7 out of 100,000. And most of the time it is by someone they know. Since 1st July 2012 to 30th June 2014 there was 487 homicide incidents in Australia. In the US it is OVER 30,000 homicides in the same time frame.
Diego because Brazil has a lot of corruption and is largely controlled by drug lords, gangs etc so weapons are widely used and homocide rates are on average 30-35 out of 100,000 which is astronomical. There are on average 60,000 homocide deaths a year.
I think that you have to update your infos, in Europe like Sweden the criminality against woman have rises more than 30% since 2014. In Austria where you can buy free, gun sale rise also more than 40 % in 4 years, and most buyer are women who don't feel safe in the street.
Rage racer, Switzerland has a totally different gun culture. And the fact that they have stricter gun laws than the US. Although in Switzerland it is still possible for a former soldier to buy his firearm after he finishes military service, he must provide a justification for keeping the weapon and apply for a permit. The army no longer hands out ammunition, they aren’t allowed to use the guns against an intruder, so they don’t use “I need it for protection” excuse. The biggest thing is that the NRA isn’t brainwashing the citizens and paying off the big boys and girls.
I totally support this, but how would you explain Brazil then?
I don't know what country you're living in but it isn't Australia. Four women alone in Melbourne have been murdered for taking walks, not even running. That's not counting other major cities. While we don't have many guns there's still millions of knives and men with psychotic fists.
Foxxy I'm sorry but are you dumb? It's 30,000 gun related deaths, 2 3rds are suicides and the most homocides are gang related, not 'by people they know' unless you count rival gangs who know eachother. This you could do with a quick FBI stat search. And this being said with most of the homocides comitted with firearms are in cities where guns are more tightly regulated. Its not that the gun laws alone screwed up everything, but the fact that the US is such a massive country with a huge gap in wealth from poor to rich with rampant drug problems (much worse than the UK). I don't support the US's take on gun control, it should be different but not this red flag 'ban everything scary because I dont know anything' form of gun control. I'm pro-sensible gun control, sure, but not this crap people spew where AR15's are suddenly so scary now. Tackle the problems my dear, not just the symptoms. And like I see in some of your other comments, 'gun culture' is a bigger problem than just the laws.
Alexander TheOriginalGreat +
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I see you left out Switzerland and their numbers. Every citizen that has served must take their weapon home with them when they get out. they have very low violent crime laws. Maybe be better than the media and avoid twisting numbers to prove a point. Also if you look at the number of guns America has in contrast to the violent crimes committed with firearms you will once again be surprise by the numbers when you compare that to the same countries that you previously listed.
This comment has been deleted.
Although I witnessed and heard firsthand some trully bad stuff, I agree with you, Hans. Besides that, I think there's a correlation between fear and crime, like, the more crime you hear of, the more you're afraid (of course), but it also works the other way around, (more fear → more crime). This is why caution is good, but we should never lose our minds. I'd just ask you a weeeeeee little tiny favour. Please, let's try to avoid using the term "western" within these contexts, and try to be more precise, more specific. Generalizations are no joke (I'm saying this as an ethnic minority, an Italo-Croatian living in Korea since 2010).
Thank you, Hans! Well, you can try being more specific, and rather mention the name of the particular region you're talking about. (ex. North-Western Euope, North America, globally leading countries, first and second world countries etc.)
Hm... Being specific might be the only real option. First, second, third world are 1990s terms and hardly suit as well... And they lead away from the fact that all nations need to care together for one world anyway...
You are right, Daria. Western likely is an unjustified generalisation. I cannot think of any that would more suitable, though.
Hans... society has taken a wrong turn. This level of vigilance is warranted. Even if you would have been safe 999 times, if it stops you from being raped once then it was worth everything. Also, NEVER drink from a glass that has left your line of sight - not even a water at a restaurant, not even if you left it with an acquaintance who is at anything less than bosom buddy levels of trust.
Good advice. I'm my country now bartenders must pour out any unattended cup, even if it was only unattended for a brief moment.
The feeling of unsafely is not the same as actually being unsafe. I have the impression you probably wouldn't like what George Washington said about "constant vigilance".
Amanda Deibert is a lesbian. She wants women to be afraid of men.
You can't help it, thinking about safety every day when walking alone.
This comment is hidden. Click here to view.
World will never be completely safe and the sooner people get it the better. I actually find it perverse to ban all kinds of weapons in order to maintain false feeling of safety. In real this measurement just makes good people defenseless while criminals of course ignore the laws and keep the weapons.
This argument is a myth. If it was true, countries with harsh weapon laws would see high violent crime numbers. The opposite is true. If you are constantly equiped with a weapon, and you spend a reasonable time for training to use them, you are giving up a significant portion of freedom, beginning with the time andf money you need to put into this.
Petra, please show an example of this statistics that prove the correlation between higher criminality and restrictive weapon laws. I'm calling you out on this.
@Petra: statistically, let us start for example here: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/jels.12219 Regarding the freedom: having and maintaining a gun in a good condition undoubtedly costs a threfold EUR sum each year. I use such money on improving my standard of living and still feel safe. Getting the training to use a gun effectively surely will run a high two-digit number of training hours each year. This, thus, takes from the freedom instead of providing it. It would only add freedom if there was an evil state, which needs to be kept at bay. But this evil state, again, is a myth.
Petra I'm pretty sure you are missing Hans point.
Lady you really should do the right and factual research. Boy are you sooo wrong. Lmfaooo
This comment is hidden. Click here to view.
Hans: Sorry, but your statement is completely illogical. How I am giving away my freedom by carrying weapon? It is quite the opposite - in history only slaves were forbidden to carry a weapon, while the ownership marks the free person. Also my statement is not a myth, it is a fact. The more restrictive weapon laws the higher criminality, many statistics show that. I would not want to live in a country which makes me unable to defend myself by stupid restrictive laws.
It is so sad that anyone has to protect themselves whilst just going for a run or anything for that matter.
The problem lies deeper than this. We have no statistics at hand about actual violent crime. The reason these people wield weapons or bring dogs is the _felt_ threat, be it a real one or an imaginary. And that they need to feel endagered while doing a perfectly normal thing is sad.
@Petra: I did never claim self-defence was not needed and that danger does not exist. What I question is wether the perceived danger always matches the real one, and whether weapons truly are an option that increase personal safety. 99,9% of us will die from cancer, heart attacks and the like, and most of us way earlier than we would need to due to bad lifestyle habbits. A tiny, tiny fraction of people in Western countries die from criminality, terrorism and the like. Yet we all are afraid of violence, and people who otherwise say we need to feed our children better food are called paranoid. Everything needs to put into relation. Besides, only then can we actually really respect the victims of violence – by not giving them the feeling that what happened to them is commonplace, and thereby making it look smaller.
Hans, I do get what you are saying, unfortunately in Australia (unsure of other countries) At LEAST once a month there is a news report of a woman being brutally attacked, killed or sexually assaulted. Whilst yes technically that is only a small percent of the population it is still scary. I would never ever consider walking alone in the dark coz there are just too many crazies out there. And I feel safer living in Australia than I would in the US that’s for sure.
By the way, Petra: there is now this downvote rain here again. You cannot have an argument in this section. The more you discuss, the more downvotes you get, on both sides. Thus, I am out of here until this evening! Have a good day (armed or not).
@Petra: calling people names ("insanity") and answering their arguments with phrases ("paranoid" and "enslaved") rather make it looks thatyou ran out of argument but for "I am right, Hans is wrong".
@Loki: how did I do a ganeralization? The Twitter thread is about anecdotes, and neither on Twitter nor here on Bored Panda where any statistics at hand. Moreover, there is no indication whether this refers to the US and / or elsewhere. Thus, I did not generalize at all but merely argued that we know too little to draw simple conclusions. Besides, I have argued for strong empathy with those who feel threatened. As you may guess, this includes even strong simpathy for those who have been victims. And there always will be people who become victims, as societies will likely never be perfect. However, I slap no one when I fight against blowing the same horn as the populistic politicians do. Safety, both actual and perceived, is too complex an issue to be reasonable discussed in a few Tweets about weapon choice whilst jogging.
@Hans. A tiny number of women take the “risks” men take. They don’t have the freedoms you have if going where they like, when they like with who they like. So they’re keeping the number artificially low. Every single time I have taken those kinds of risks (aka liberties) some man came out of the woodwork acting scary. It’s not just a tiny number of men who present a risk, it’s a significant proportion.
"We have no statistics at hand about actual violent crime." Really? None at all? https://www.fbi.gov/news/pressrel/press-releases/fbi-releases-preliminary-semiannual-crime-statistics-for-2018
@Foxxy, that's because people dying from otherwise natural causes is really very boring, and the news agencies will only report on those deaths if there's a reason its of massive public interest. On the other hand... people *love* gore. (Look at the amount of sickos that kept re-streaming the Christ church live-stream. That's extreme, but violence sells.)
I checked the statistics, they do exist. Men are 2-3 times more likely to experience violence on the street. If at all, men should be frightened. And yes, our perception of risk matches in no way the actual risk.
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@Petra Actually men are more likely to be victims of assault than women, the only exception to this is sexual assault.
This comment is hidden. Click here to view.
Even if it is just perceived and not actual danger. Shouldn't you feel safe where you life?
This comment is hidden. Click here to view.
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Hans: I am calling it insanity because your ideas do not reflect the real world and human nature. Instead you are just in denial and keep thinking that the criminality and danger do not exist and self-defence is not needed.
This comment is hidden. Click here to view.
Loki’s Lil Butter Knife: No use to explain this to such people .. for them everything is sunny and there is no real criminality, who wants to be able to protect himself is paranoid and enslaved (???). Absolute ignorance for victims and people who do not want to become vinctims .. thank god I live in czech republic where this kind of insanity has no place and people are free to carry weapons for self defence.
They had a discussion about this on the BBC's Women's Hour a little while back. They came to the conclusion that it was the fact more female victims make prominent news headlines and more crime dramas have pretty young female victims that make women feel disproportionately afraid of being alone. (In the UK) If women are attacked it is most likely to be by someone they know and in a familiar setting. Attacks by strangers are relatively rare and the victims of such random attacks are heavily weighted towards young men. This has been borne out in my own friendship circle. I know far too many women who have been sexually assaulted, but always by someone they were (up to that point) friends with. On the other hand an equal number of my male friends have been beaten up in the street by random groups of men or a lone attacker with a knife.
It's not only about actual attacks. It's enough if you have guys running behind you yelling obscenities. They probably won't attack you for real, but you are still in danger and very uncomfortable to be outside the least.
Fair enough, that would put anyone off.
That's how the statistics look here as well. Men in their twenties are much more in danger when just being out and about than women. It's more dangerous for a woman to be inside with a man she knows than it is for them to be alone on the town. That's really more depressing than anything but those are the statistics.
This comment has been deleted.
Which country are you in Peko?
@Si Well you're free to make shit up if reality doesn't agree with you.
I was going to call BS on this, but a quick Google search pulled up a wealth of scholarly articles supporting the fact that a man walking alone is more likely to be attacked by a stranger than a woman walking alone. The issue is far more complex than that however. Check out, for example, "Could A Woman Walk Around The World Today?" from the 4 April 2019 edition of National Geographic. The following passage hits at the core of why women feel less safe (beyond media hype) than men. "Where there are women in public, there are men to question them. To police them, sometimes, or to offer well-meaning advice, or express an opinion. Not all queries are malicious or overbearing, but public space is the arena of men, whether in Tehran or in Brooklyn. Women can’t move freely, without being subject to stares, comments, questions, catcalls, solicitations, threats. Everywhere, they are seen. This policing of space is inseparable from the policing of female bodies."
This comment has been deleted.
You are no doubt right that likelihood is only part of the equation Si, I know in on some level it is futile trying to reconcile cold numbers with the complexity the situation. I think I have led this conversation down a path I didn't want to when I mentioned men. It wasn't to start a man vs woman debate, it was just as a point of comparison. A better one might be having a serious car accident. A woman has a roughly comparable life time risk of suffering life changing injuries in a car accident as being raped by a stranger (in the UK). Car crashes happen everyday, you may well know someone who has lost a limb or lives with a crutch because of a car accident. But fear doesn't stop us driving. Yet some women commenting on this thread too terrified to be out alone. There is a whole strand of feminism which sees indoctrination of fear as a major burden on women. (I know another branch sees the fear as a rational reaction to sexual harassment, so no consensus anywhere).
This may have gone down a path you did not intend, but thank you for bringing it up. From the same Nat Geo article I mentioned before: "A recent New York Times story documents a rise in the number of solo women travelers, [who were victims of violence]. Such fearmongering is dispiritingly common . . . . Men, who also fall victim to attack, are assumed to learn courage and street-smarts from these negative experiences, while a woman will be forever damaged or traumatized—or worse."
It is alarming that this feeling of unsafety exists. However, for most Western countries at least it is a myth that the level of security is so low. Although many argue that guns are a way to protect freedom, I argue that doing everyday activities fully armed is a loss of freedom. Carelessness is not good, but constant vigilance means we are either too freightened or society has taken a wrong turn.
I’m sorry Petra but countries with stricter weapon laws have less violent crime. For example Homocide rates in the UK is 1 out of 100,000, Australia is 1.1 out of 100,000, Sweden is 0.9 out of 100,000 but the US which has lax weapon laws is 4.7 out of 100,000. And most of the time it is by someone they know. Since 1st July 2012 to 30th June 2014 there was 487 homicide incidents in Australia. In the US it is OVER 30,000 homicides in the same time frame.
Diego because Brazil has a lot of corruption and is largely controlled by drug lords, gangs etc so weapons are widely used and homocide rates are on average 30-35 out of 100,000 which is astronomical. There are on average 60,000 homocide deaths a year.
I think that you have to update your infos, in Europe like Sweden the criminality against woman have rises more than 30% since 2014. In Austria where you can buy free, gun sale rise also more than 40 % in 4 years, and most buyer are women who don't feel safe in the street.
Rage racer, Switzerland has a totally different gun culture. And the fact that they have stricter gun laws than the US. Although in Switzerland it is still possible for a former soldier to buy his firearm after he finishes military service, he must provide a justification for keeping the weapon and apply for a permit. The army no longer hands out ammunition, they aren’t allowed to use the guns against an intruder, so they don’t use “I need it for protection” excuse. The biggest thing is that the NRA isn’t brainwashing the citizens and paying off the big boys and girls.
I totally support this, but how would you explain Brazil then?
I don't know what country you're living in but it isn't Australia. Four women alone in Melbourne have been murdered for taking walks, not even running. That's not counting other major cities. While we don't have many guns there's still millions of knives and men with psychotic fists.
Foxxy I'm sorry but are you dumb? It's 30,000 gun related deaths, 2 3rds are suicides and the most homocides are gang related, not 'by people they know' unless you count rival gangs who know eachother. This you could do with a quick FBI stat search. And this being said with most of the homocides comitted with firearms are in cities where guns are more tightly regulated. Its not that the gun laws alone screwed up everything, but the fact that the US is such a massive country with a huge gap in wealth from poor to rich with rampant drug problems (much worse than the UK). I don't support the US's take on gun control, it should be different but not this red flag 'ban everything scary because I dont know anything' form of gun control. I'm pro-sensible gun control, sure, but not this crap people spew where AR15's are suddenly so scary now. Tackle the problems my dear, not just the symptoms. And like I see in some of your other comments, 'gun culture' is a bigger problem than just the laws.
Alexander TheOriginalGreat +
This comment is hidden. Click here to view.
I see you left out Switzerland and their numbers. Every citizen that has served must take their weapon home with them when they get out. they have very low violent crime laws. Maybe be better than the media and avoid twisting numbers to prove a point. Also if you look at the number of guns America has in contrast to the violent crimes committed with firearms you will once again be surprise by the numbers when you compare that to the same countries that you previously listed.
This comment has been deleted.
Although I witnessed and heard firsthand some trully bad stuff, I agree with you, Hans. Besides that, I think there's a correlation between fear and crime, like, the more crime you hear of, the more you're afraid (of course), but it also works the other way around, (more fear → more crime). This is why caution is good, but we should never lose our minds. I'd just ask you a weeeeeee little tiny favour. Please, let's try to avoid using the term "western" within these contexts, and try to be more precise, more specific. Generalizations are no joke (I'm saying this as an ethnic minority, an Italo-Croatian living in Korea since 2010).
Thank you, Hans! Well, you can try being more specific, and rather mention the name of the particular region you're talking about. (ex. North-Western Euope, North America, globally leading countries, first and second world countries etc.)
Hm... Being specific might be the only real option. First, second, third world are 1990s terms and hardly suit as well... And they lead away from the fact that all nations need to care together for one world anyway...
You are right, Daria. Western likely is an unjustified generalisation. I cannot think of any that would more suitable, though.
Hans... society has taken a wrong turn. This level of vigilance is warranted. Even if you would have been safe 999 times, if it stops you from being raped once then it was worth everything. Also, NEVER drink from a glass that has left your line of sight - not even a water at a restaurant, not even if you left it with an acquaintance who is at anything less than bosom buddy levels of trust.
Good advice. I'm my country now bartenders must pour out any unattended cup, even if it was only unattended for a brief moment.
The feeling of unsafely is not the same as actually being unsafe. I have the impression you probably wouldn't like what George Washington said about "constant vigilance".
Amanda Deibert is a lesbian. She wants women to be afraid of men.
You can't help it, thinking about safety every day when walking alone.
This comment is hidden. Click here to view.
World will never be completely safe and the sooner people get it the better. I actually find it perverse to ban all kinds of weapons in order to maintain false feeling of safety. In real this measurement just makes good people defenseless while criminals of course ignore the laws and keep the weapons.
This argument is a myth. If it was true, countries with harsh weapon laws would see high violent crime numbers. The opposite is true. If you are constantly equiped with a weapon, and you spend a reasonable time for training to use them, you are giving up a significant portion of freedom, beginning with the time andf money you need to put into this.
Petra, please show an example of this statistics that prove the correlation between higher criminality and restrictive weapon laws. I'm calling you out on this.
@Petra: statistically, let us start for example here: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/jels.12219 Regarding the freedom: having and maintaining a gun in a good condition undoubtedly costs a threfold EUR sum each year. I use such money on improving my standard of living and still feel safe. Getting the training to use a gun effectively surely will run a high two-digit number of training hours each year. This, thus, takes from the freedom instead of providing it. It would only add freedom if there was an evil state, which needs to be kept at bay. But this evil state, again, is a myth.
Petra I'm pretty sure you are missing Hans point.
Lady you really should do the right and factual research. Boy are you sooo wrong. Lmfaooo
This comment is hidden. Click here to view.
Hans: Sorry, but your statement is completely illogical. How I am giving away my freedom by carrying weapon? It is quite the opposite - in history only slaves were forbidden to carry a weapon, while the ownership marks the free person. Also my statement is not a myth, it is a fact. The more restrictive weapon laws the higher criminality, many statistics show that. I would not want to live in a country which makes me unable to defend myself by stupid restrictive laws.
It is so sad that anyone has to protect themselves whilst just going for a run or anything for that matter.
The problem lies deeper than this. We have no statistics at hand about actual violent crime. The reason these people wield weapons or bring dogs is the _felt_ threat, be it a real one or an imaginary. And that they need to feel endagered while doing a perfectly normal thing is sad.
@Petra: I did never claim self-defence was not needed and that danger does not exist. What I question is wether the perceived danger always matches the real one, and whether weapons truly are an option that increase personal safety. 99,9% of us will die from cancer, heart attacks and the like, and most of us way earlier than we would need to due to bad lifestyle habbits. A tiny, tiny fraction of people in Western countries die from criminality, terrorism and the like. Yet we all are afraid of violence, and people who otherwise say we need to feed our children better food are called paranoid. Everything needs to put into relation. Besides, only then can we actually really respect the victims of violence – by not giving them the feeling that what happened to them is commonplace, and thereby making it look smaller.
Hans, I do get what you are saying, unfortunately in Australia (unsure of other countries) At LEAST once a month there is a news report of a woman being brutally attacked, killed or sexually assaulted. Whilst yes technically that is only a small percent of the population it is still scary. I would never ever consider walking alone in the dark coz there are just too many crazies out there. And I feel safer living in Australia than I would in the US that’s for sure.
By the way, Petra: there is now this downvote rain here again. You cannot have an argument in this section. The more you discuss, the more downvotes you get, on both sides. Thus, I am out of here until this evening! Have a good day (armed or not).
@Petra: calling people names ("insanity") and answering their arguments with phrases ("paranoid" and "enslaved") rather make it looks thatyou ran out of argument but for "I am right, Hans is wrong".
@Loki: how did I do a ganeralization? The Twitter thread is about anecdotes, and neither on Twitter nor here on Bored Panda where any statistics at hand. Moreover, there is no indication whether this refers to the US and / or elsewhere. Thus, I did not generalize at all but merely argued that we know too little to draw simple conclusions. Besides, I have argued for strong empathy with those who feel threatened. As you may guess, this includes even strong simpathy for those who have been victims. And there always will be people who become victims, as societies will likely never be perfect. However, I slap no one when I fight against blowing the same horn as the populistic politicians do. Safety, both actual and perceived, is too complex an issue to be reasonable discussed in a few Tweets about weapon choice whilst jogging.
@Hans. A tiny number of women take the “risks” men take. They don’t have the freedoms you have if going where they like, when they like with who they like. So they’re keeping the number artificially low. Every single time I have taken those kinds of risks (aka liberties) some man came out of the woodwork acting scary. It’s not just a tiny number of men who present a risk, it’s a significant proportion.
"We have no statistics at hand about actual violent crime." Really? None at all? https://www.fbi.gov/news/pressrel/press-releases/fbi-releases-preliminary-semiannual-crime-statistics-for-2018
@Foxxy, that's because people dying from otherwise natural causes is really very boring, and the news agencies will only report on those deaths if there's a reason its of massive public interest. On the other hand... people *love* gore. (Look at the amount of sickos that kept re-streaming the Christ church live-stream. That's extreme, but violence sells.)
I checked the statistics, they do exist. Men are 2-3 times more likely to experience violence on the street. If at all, men should be frightened. And yes, our perception of risk matches in no way the actual risk.
This comment is hidden. Click here to view.
@Petra Actually men are more likely to be victims of assault than women, the only exception to this is sexual assault.
This comment is hidden. Click here to view.
Even if it is just perceived and not actual danger. Shouldn't you feel safe where you life?
This comment is hidden. Click here to view.
This comment has been deleted.
This comment is hidden. Click here to view.
Hans: I am calling it insanity because your ideas do not reflect the real world and human nature. Instead you are just in denial and keep thinking that the criminality and danger do not exist and self-defence is not needed.
This comment is hidden. Click here to view.
Loki’s Lil Butter Knife: No use to explain this to such people .. for them everything is sunny and there is no real criminality, who wants to be able to protect himself is paranoid and enslaved (???). Absolute ignorance for victims and people who do not want to become vinctims .. thank god I live in czech republic where this kind of insanity has no place and people are free to carry weapons for self defence.
They had a discussion about this on the BBC's Women's Hour a little while back. They came to the conclusion that it was the fact more female victims make prominent news headlines and more crime dramas have pretty young female victims that make women feel disproportionately afraid of being alone. (In the UK) If women are attacked it is most likely to be by someone they know and in a familiar setting. Attacks by strangers are relatively rare and the victims of such random attacks are heavily weighted towards young men. This has been borne out in my own friendship circle. I know far too many women who have been sexually assaulted, but always by someone they were (up to that point) friends with. On the other hand an equal number of my male friends have been beaten up in the street by random groups of men or a lone attacker with a knife.
It's not only about actual attacks. It's enough if you have guys running behind you yelling obscenities. They probably won't attack you for real, but you are still in danger and very uncomfortable to be outside the least.
Fair enough, that would put anyone off.
That's how the statistics look here as well. Men in their twenties are much more in danger when just being out and about than women. It's more dangerous for a woman to be inside with a man she knows than it is for them to be alone on the town. That's really more depressing than anything but those are the statistics.
This comment has been deleted.
Which country are you in Peko?
@Si Well you're free to make shit up if reality doesn't agree with you.
I was going to call BS on this, but a quick Google search pulled up a wealth of scholarly articles supporting the fact that a man walking alone is more likely to be attacked by a stranger than a woman walking alone. The issue is far more complex than that however. Check out, for example, "Could A Woman Walk Around The World Today?" from the 4 April 2019 edition of National Geographic. The following passage hits at the core of why women feel less safe (beyond media hype) than men. "Where there are women in public, there are men to question them. To police them, sometimes, or to offer well-meaning advice, or express an opinion. Not all queries are malicious or overbearing, but public space is the arena of men, whether in Tehran or in Brooklyn. Women can’t move freely, without being subject to stares, comments, questions, catcalls, solicitations, threats. Everywhere, they are seen. This policing of space is inseparable from the policing of female bodies."
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You are no doubt right that likelihood is only part of the equation Si, I know in on some level it is futile trying to reconcile cold numbers with the complexity the situation. I think I have led this conversation down a path I didn't want to when I mentioned men. It wasn't to start a man vs woman debate, it was just as a point of comparison. A better one might be having a serious car accident. A woman has a roughly comparable life time risk of suffering life changing injuries in a car accident as being raped by a stranger (in the UK). Car crashes happen everyday, you may well know someone who has lost a limb or lives with a crutch because of a car accident. But fear doesn't stop us driving. Yet some women commenting on this thread too terrified to be out alone. There is a whole strand of feminism which sees indoctrination of fear as a major burden on women. (I know another branch sees the fear as a rational reaction to sexual harassment, so no consensus anywhere).
This may have gone down a path you did not intend, but thank you for bringing it up. From the same Nat Geo article I mentioned before: "A recent New York Times story documents a rise in the number of solo women travelers, [who were victims of violence]. Such fearmongering is dispiritingly common . . . . Men, who also fall victim to attack, are assumed to learn courage and street-smarts from these negative experiences, while a woman will be forever damaged or traumatized—or worse."