Advice re personal safety while going on long country walks alone.

I've never been attacked while out walking, alone or otherwise.
I was attacked near Bolton Street one night when I was 19 but it wasn't that big a deal (a light stabbing and a few kicks). Ironically I was pulled off a bike on a busy(ish) street.

As to the Op's question; I agree with other posters; get, or borrow, a dog.
 
Dont agree that walking alone is displaying a more deeper need. I was reared in the country and walked the bank of the river almost daily.

Did a lot my studying by the river too, particularly during exam time.
I still did it until recently when I lost my big boxer dog. My new dog would be more likely to jump on me instead of the attacker. I really miss my walks alone and feel that men are lucky they are at less risk. The sound of nature, particularly in the Spring mornings is unequalled.
Browtal
 
How recent was this bushy park attack?? Or is that the case where it was proven the woman had made it all up?
 
onq said:
Walking alone can be a great pleasure - it can also be a symptom of a deeper need
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Very surprised at you ONQ, a somewhat broad generalisation.
IMHO a statement that could be perceived as offensive to some ardent ramblers.
 
Sparkrite,

I call them like I see them.

If someone persistently places themselves in danger despite the warnings you have to ask why.
 
Purple said:
As to the Op's question; I agree with other posters; get, or borrow, a dog.
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I'm reminded of the altercation between the BMW owner and the inner city shakedown artist.

"Fiver to mind your car mister?"

"I have a Rottweiler in the car sonny - I don't need you to mind it."

"Can he put out fires?"

There is a limit to what a dog can do.
 
Any dog is a great deterrent - I have a West Highland Terrier. He may be small but his bite would be very nasty and he would go to the ends of the earth to protect me, so I feel very safe walking with him

There is no way I would walk on my own in the country or in a park, I see other women doing it though. If I didn't have a dog I would walk with a companion.
 
onq said:
Sparkrite,

I call them like I see them.

If someone persistently places themselves in danger despite the warnings you have to ask why.
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This is nonsense- Walking is now placing yourself in danger? I've never read such scaremongering in all my time.
 
There is difference between scaremongering and offering common sense advice.
There is also a difference between bravery in the face of danger and unnecessary risk taking.

As I say, I'm calling it like I see it - I don't walk at night much myself (occasionally to the local shops).
I see a lot of people out walking for exercise and I've known of one or two persistent night walkers in communities.

One of them was a mother of four and an involved member of the local community, a carer and on the school board - totally "normal" otherwise.
Caused her friends a lot of concern over the years because of the night walking, but there was nothing anyone could do to dissuade her from doing it.

I'm not about to drop and unhappy ending into the thread - as far a I know she was never attacked, and is still doing her nocturnal rounds.
But the perception of being "at risk" was clear to anyone who knew her and even she wasn't able to say why she did those walks.
 
I think the issue is simple. Unfortunately women can get attacked while out walking especially when alone and in remote type areas. Its not worth the risk
 
dewdrop said:
I think the issue is simple. Unfortunately women can get attacked while out walking especially when alone and in remote type areas. Its not worth the risk
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Men are far more likely to get attacked than women.
 
I can hardly believe this thread.

Not only do women have to contend with any dangers they might actually encounter but also with those who consider that they were "asking for it" by engaging in the "dangerous" practice of walking alone - unbelievable!

I'd just like to say that I would consider I have the right to walk at the same times and in the same places as anyone else regardless of gender without being judged by the valley of squinting windows - so if it's dangerous for men it could be dangerous for me but gender does not come into it.
 
Gender does come into it.

Let's take the wooded area in Bushy Park as an example. Being blunt, it's idiotic for a woman to walk in that area on her own. She's not "asking for it"...that's just inflammatory language. But she could mitigate any risk by sticking to more populous areas of the park.

Regardless of what the PC mob may claim, it is not the same for me to walk in a relatively isolated area and for my wife to do the same.
 
My three earlier posts to this thread were gender neutral as was the one about the effectiveness of a dog.
The fourth post gave an example of a woman I knew who like to walk late at night unaccompanied.
Its clear that I did not suggest they were "asking for it" - that's someone else's construction.
 

I cannot entirely agree based on my experience.
It really depends on what the nocturnal marauders are "out for".

If they are looking to visit violence on someone they'll often pick taller guy.
If they are looking to visit forced sex on someone statistically it'll be men or a man going after a single woman, but...

This isn't to say women are not assaulted or killed or that men are not the victims of serious sexual assault.
The common factor seems to be that the victims were alone at the time of the attacks.

This is in recent times of course.
When I was growing up you were more likely to be picked on if you were in a group - by another group.
 
The advice (?) being given to the OP on the thread would make one believe that the only safe option is to stay at home!

Buy a treadmill OP!
 
Following 's post, the advice centred on people not walking alone.
One poster misrepresented this advice by suggesting it meant that walking itself was dangerous.
Another poster suggested that the advice amounted to the old chauvinist comment that women were "asking it",
Both of these somewhat jaundiced interpretations appear not to be accurate although you could make a case for either if so inclined.
 
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