When I see a woman running alone, I'll turn and follow her from a safe distance (10 feet or so) until I see her go into a building at the end of her run. I give a friendly wave when they turn their head to let them know I'm harmless, that they can trust me to be their guardian to ensure they're safe. Sometimes I have to really throw down to keep up, I must catch some of them on their progression tempo run day.
Was it a runner who committed this violent act against this woman, or was it some guy waiting to force her into a vehicle. I’m not sure I get how “we male runners” could have done anything to make Eliza “feel safe” here. If anything, this like all other “here’s what men can do to help women feel safe” threads, goes after the wrong people. You can lecture the good guys on all sorts of small things they should be doing while not actually putting women in real danger, and you won’t stop one single bad guy from putting women in danger. If you’re telling men to give a slightly wider berth when passing a woman on the sidewalk, you haven’t prevented an attack or a kidnapping.
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.
Do you want them to feel more safe or be more safe? Those are two different things.
Was it a runner who committed this violent act against this woman, or was it some guy waiting to force her into a vehicle. I’m not sure I get how “we male runners” could have done anything to make Eliza “feel safe” here. If anything, this like all other “here’s what men can do to help women feel safe” threads, goes after the wrong people. You can lecture the good guys on all sorts of small things they should be doing while not actually putting women in real danger, and you won’t stop one single bad guy from putting women in danger. If you’re telling men to give a slightly wider berth when passing a woman on the sidewalk, you haven’t prevented an attack or a kidnapping.
I got the impression that the OP expects men to put doggie collars on females and lead them around on a leash on their runs like they were a poodle to keep them safe from that big mean old world.
I will cross to the other side of the street, if possible, when I see a woman running toward me. If I’m on the track I’ll go several lanes over if there’s a woman running at the same time. I’ll usually let a female runner initiate a greeting and only return it when she does so. It may seem extreme to some, but too many of my female relatives and friends who exercise have dealt with creeps who don’t know appropriate boundaries or do know those boundaries and get their kicks crossing them. I think the majority of women would rather be left alone and given space when exercising and I’m more than happy to do that.
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.
What are you supposed to do? If you are running by yourself, you are unlikely to have any interaction with anyone else. Unless you are witnessing a female running being abducted or assaulted, you can't really do anything.
I will cross to the other side of the street, if possible, when I see a woman running toward me. If I’m on the track I’ll go several lanes over if there’s a woman running at the same time. I’ll usually let a female runner initiate a greeting and only return it when she does so. It may seem extreme to some, but too many of my female relatives and friends who exercise have dealt with creeps who don’t know appropriate boundaries or do know those boundaries and get their kicks crossing them. I think the majority of women would rather be left alone and given space when exercising and I’m more than happy to do that.
Really, that is lame. I run down a path which goes for miles. During my run, I'll usually pass at least a few women. It's not unusual to run past half a dozen women or more depending on the time of day. So I should be zigzagging across the road to avoid them because of my gender?
At my college I typically run during the day, but there are times where I'm wrapping up my runs at night. I heard from a female friend that it's nice to make a lot of noise when you're coming up behind, sort of yelling "behind" / "on your left" / "on your right", especially if you're in a relatively secluded area.
This may be true, but for some reason a lot of women run with headphones. They act startled they get passed even on a trail with a lot of runners.
OP here: to the “leave them alone” comments. Yeah, so far you have “left them alone” how has that worked?. Ask those that have been assaulted and countless others that no longer run because we’ve “left this alone” and they do not feel safe. I'm not using an anonymous forum to garner attention. Im starting a conversation so that I can have conversations with those in my community to help grow the sport.
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?
The stats show men are far more likely be assaulted or murdered, in particular when the assailant is a stranger. The stats hold true when gang crime is removed too.
Do you have any stats to show the act of jogging changes those odds?
The honest answer is the only way you are ever going to stop an attack like the one in Tennessee, is just by being present and deterring someone from acting in the first place. The odds of that happening are slim at best due to the random, and rare, nature of these attacks. But statistically speaking, the more time you spend running the more likely you are to stop such an act. So all you white knights stock up on clearance shoes because you are all doing 130 mpw now.
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?
The stats show men are far more likely be assaulted or murdered, in particular when the assailant is a stranger. The stats hold true when gang crime is removed too.
Do you have any stats to show the act of jogging changes those odds?
No I don't, just like you have no actual evidence that women runners are safer than male runners. You took general crime statistics to try to prove relative safety in a running scenario. Real world doesn't work that way.
The honest answer is the only way you are ever going to stop an attack like the one in Tennessee, is just by being present and deterring someone from acting in the first place. The odds of that happening are slim at best due to the random, and rare, nature of these attacks. But statistically speaking, the more time you spend running the more likely you are to stop such an act. So all you white knights stock up on clearance shoes because you are all doing 130 mpw now.
but according to the OP every male running past a female is scaring the female. so probably we need to have designated paths for male and females so there can be no interaction. or women can run at 18:00 - 20:00 and men at 20:00 - 22:00. or we can build a female only running track in every city with a crocodile infested moat to stop any man getting inside. of course the crocodiles would have to go on a sexual conduct course and be trained to not look at the women in a hungry or scary way.
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?
The stats show men are far more likely be assaulted or murdered, in particular when the assailant is a stranger. The stats hold true when gang crime is removed too.
Do you have any stats to show the act of jogging changes those odds?
I tend to think a lot of the assault by strangers are bar fights.
The stats show men are far more likely be assaulted or murdered, in particular when the assailant is a stranger. The stats hold true when gang crime is removed too.
Do you have any stats to show the act of jogging changes those odds?
No I don't, just like you have no actual evidence that women runners are safer than male runners. You took general crime statistics to try to prove relative safety in a running scenario. Real world doesn't work that way.
The general crime stats I posted is evidence that women runners are safer. In particular, because the stats I looked at were in reference to attacks where the attacker was not known to the victim.
These are real world stats, which represent the real world. I don’t know why you want to believe women are more likely to be attacked, but all of the evidence suggests otherwise. You can go put your white amour away.
Help us build the best running shoe review site for a chance to win a LetsRun t-shirt.Help us build the best running shoe review site for a chance to win one of 10 LetsRun t-shirts.