they are independent adults, they know what they want, most of them want criminals to spend less time in prison or not even go to prison. if they actually cared, they'd do something about it. they won't.
I find that many men deliberately avoid walking right behind me or on the same side of the sidewalk if passing me. Thats very considerate. I have been followed and its not a nice feeling although I managed to distract the men following me by shouting at them aggressively. I may have sworn. I get very, very angry when I feel threatened and thats not nice for people, so its good if men use common sense to avoid doing that.
Also, please drop the hi-viz obsession. I don't want to be mansplained that hi-viz is safe, good for me, etc because it makes me visible. I have very real reasons concerned with my personal safety which mean being less visible is to my benefit. I don't want to have to explain this multiple times to a mansplaining hi-viz obsessive engaged in a monologue. Believe it or not, other people can make themselves aware of the benefits of wearing hi-viz but women are often simply trying not to be the target of unwanted attention and our concerns may be different from yours.
Don't tell me to only run with a buddy or a dog. Don't normalise women being out alone as something thats automatically considered unsafe that women have the responsibility to avoid. Do blame men for attacking and threatning us. If I wanted to spend my entire life in the company of men to ensure my safety outside my own home, I'd live in a different part of the world entirely. Do not normalise this.
So you want everyone to get out of your way and to not make safety suggestions. Anyone being out alone is dangerous. Get off your high horse.
Nothing. It's not us. All women should at least carry a pepper spray. It works. One spray and it can knock out a person. More than enough time to literally run for help.
I know it's scary to be alone at night, so I usually stay close so they have a safe male around. I don't get close enough to be annoying or "in their business," but I just hang back at a reasonable distance so they know I'm there and don't feel alone.
Here are my practices when I encounter anyone, male or female, walking or running. Give the other person as much room as is reasonable. Nod or brief greeting when passing. Keep moving. Look back once or twice just to make sure they aren't trying to bludgeon me from behind. I would certainly help anyone who is being attacked or needs assistance but it's not my job to be a protector of strangers.
Women are are much safer than men. Look up the stats. That's a fact.
I'm curious. Are you saying women that are out for a run are safer than men who are out for a run? Or are you lumping all assaults, including gang crime, bad drug deals, etc, into either male victim or female victim categories and generalizing from that?
I find that many men deliberately avoid walking right behind me or on the same side of the sidewalk if passing me. Thats very considerate. I have been followed and its not a nice feeling although I managed to distract the men following me by shouting at them aggressively. I may have sworn. I get very, very angry when I feel threatened and thats not nice for people, so its good if men use common sense to avoid doing that.
Also, please drop the hi-viz obsession. I don't want to be mansplained that hi-viz is safe, good for me, etc because it makes me visible. I have very real reasons concerned with my personal safety which mean being less visible is to my benefit. I don't want to have to explain this multiple times to a mansplaining hi-viz obsessive engaged in a monologue. Believe it or not, other people can make themselves aware of the benefits of wearing hi-viz but women are often simply trying not to be the target of unwanted attention and our concerns may be different from yours.
Don't tell me to only run with a buddy or a dog. Don't normalise women being out alone as something thats automatically considered unsafe that women have the responsibility to avoid. Do blame men for attacking and threatning us. If I wanted to spend my entire life in the company of men to ensure my safety outside my own home, I'd live in a different part of the world entirely. Do not normalise this.
Some men are predators. Acknowledging reality isn't "normalising" it.
The point is that men aren't being told to avoid running on their own to avoid them.
Isn't that obvious?
I've had a lifetime's experience of avoiding being a woman attacked by men. You haven't. I'll trust my own judgment.
as men (I’m a man), how can we make you (females) feel more safe? I live in a rural area and females run by from time to time. I always think “I hope she feels safe!”. It’s pathetic that we need to be having this conversation, but it should be had.
Good thing you parenthetically clarified lest we should think you meant “as a man (I’m a monkey)..” or something.
My boyfriend used to come with me when I would do hills at night by my school. He didn’t like the idea of me running around alone in the dark and being in the same spot where someone could know I habitually ran. He doesn’t run so he would wait at the bottom of the hill for me and just play on his phone or whatever while I ran. Except, we’re black, so the police would always pull up on him and ask him what he was doing and ask for his ID. I’d come running back and see them bothering him and demonstrate I was running and sometimes they’d hassle me and ask for my ID as if I carry a wallet while doing a workout.
There was a woman who lived on the hill who would come out and shine a flashlight in his face and hassle him and threaten him. So he had to stop coming because in trying to keep me safe we ended up more unsafe.
Believe women. There was just a thread recently where a teenage girl posted about a creepy guy watching her at the track and a lot of the replies said she was a troll. The truth is every female, runner or not, has been harassed at some point.
Next, don’t ignore comments, actions or thoughts that encourage violence towards women. These can escalate.
Something I've been doing recently is escorting any female runner I see running alone in an isolated area. I don't do much I just kill my pace and hang 50-100m behind them. I get a bit closer when it's dark out since it's harder too make out details surrounding them.
This got a lot of up votes but it seems like this might actually creep someone out by stalking them instead of just doing your own thing.
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