WOMAN #1: Walking alone at night is definitely something I try to avoid as much as I can.
WOMAN #2: You try to tell yourself that you’re a brave, strong person and you shouldn’t be afraid of walking alone. It sounds really simple and easy, but that’s just not the case.
WOMAN #3: Walking down the street and you get some cat calls or comments from men and sometimes they follow you and they won’t let you go.
WOMAN #4:Sometimes I’m like, “I could totally take this guy right now if I need to.” And I don’t know if that’s a good thing.
WOMAN #5: Stomp on the ground; walk really loudly. Walk really tall with good posture.
WOMAN #4: I dial 911 and have it ready as I’m walking.
WOMAN #3: I carry around a pocket knife.
WOMAN #2: Sometimes when I go out at night, I make sure I have my running shoes on.
WOMAN #6: There was one particular time when I stood in the center of a busy street and waited for the bus there because I was so horrified.
WOMAN #5: It gets to the point where it’s almost debilitating, where you’re thinking about it constantly.
WOMAN #1: I’ll put my keys in between my knuckles and just be like Wolverine, ready to go.
WOMAN #6: I’ve done that a few times.
WOMAN #5: It’s just kind of a defense mechanism I’ve developed over time.
WOMAN #2: People kind of imposing these precautions on you and they expect you to have these precautions.
WOMAN #1: My dad had me take self defense classes, and at first I was really opposed. I’m not a violent person; I don’t enjoy fighting or anything like that. And he was like, “I know, but it’s stuff that you need to be learning.” And I hated that he was right.
WOMAN #6: As you get older and you know people who it’s happened to, I think starts to become more real and starts to probably scare you more.
WOMAN #1: Especially because on the news you just hear about all the bad things that happen and all the violent things that happen.
WOMAN #4: No one’s really told me what the best way to handle it is, so I’m kind of just figuring it out as I go along.
