When you tell women not to walk alone at night because it makes them vulnerable, you do realise that we are vulnerable in a million other scenarios too?
Walking alone in the dark Walking alone in the early morning Walking alone in the middle of the day Being on an empty bus, train or tube Being on a busy bus, train or tube Spending the night alone in our home Sharing a home with a volatile partner Answering the front door to a stranger Going for a run Using a public toilet Travelling abroad Dancing in a nightclub Waiting at a bar Walking past a building site Getting into a taxi on our own
Women experience harassment, intimidation and physical harm in all of these scenarios, and nestled somewhere in the back of most women's minds, whether it be a conscious thought or not, is the reality that if a man really wanted to hurt her, he probably could. We are shit-scared in scenarios that most men wouldn’t think twice about. We tell our friends to ‘text when you get home’, with the subtext being: ‘so I know that you made it there alive’.
We might wear flat shoes to run away or carry a key in our tightly-clenched fist to make us feel a fraction more powerful in the moment, but it’s not the solution to end violence against women. Women are NOT the problem here.
Don’t put this on us to fix.