I now feel really uncomfortable

tanith

Locally to where I live there are several subways and alleys that I have used very often.. one of these alleyways allows me to get to my daughters house in 10 mins .. I heard today that a local lady left work in the middle of the day and was mugged on the way in one of these local subways , sadly she is now fighting for her life... he not only stole her bag but beat her badly .

This has reinforced my OH arguement that I shouldn't use this alleyway and if I am honest I now have my doubts too... BUT!!! I do not want to let the bullies win and feel that if I now avoid this journey (the alternative route is much much longer and it won't be a flying visit often anymore ) its just another thing that I am too 'frightened' to do in my daily life...and it makes me MAD!!!

Any thoughts peeps? Is it a risk worth still taking? or should I just be a wimp and go the long way round?

yoni_one

The risk is for you to assess alone, and maybe there will be greater vigilance and security around the alley now more than before.

Personally I am really wary of this kind of thing, I wouldn't walk through an alley alone and I would always make sure I carried a personal alarm - in or out of an alley.

I'm told that if faced with reason to trigger the personal alarm you are better throwing the whole thing at the attacker (before you set the alarm that is, otherwise it will be less effective than throwing a Mars bar at them ) just to give you a further second or so to leg it out of the situation - it could make all the difference.

BlondeHeadOn

You could maybe get hold of and take a rape alarm with you, as the one I have makes the most god-awful noise that no-one is going to stay around for long once it goes off!

Or borrow a big dog?

Go with someone else?

Have you ever done any self-defence classes? Years ago when then Yorkshire Ripper was terrorising Yorkshire (and I lived in the area) I attended a self-defence for women class and learned a lot. I had to use it once when I was attacked abroad, and it really worked. It's amazing how much effect just standing firm and really shouting 'NO' has. You could learn some useful techniques from a class.

I know what you mean though - I am always very nervous in deserted 'short-cuts', not least because I am now disabled and walk very strangely - sometimes I think I might as well have 'VICTIM' tattooed on my forehead!

A loud rape alarm and pepper spray might help you feel a bit more comfortable though.

vixarooni

I do see your point.

but then what is one long walk around to one where you might get murdered and not see your daughter at all?

Then again, you could argue that the danger is no less going the long way round. Or you could get hit by a bus, killed by the plague or a comet hit earth and destroy life as we know it.

Its a call you have to make, im sure as one other poster said that the security around that area will be more visable at least to reduce the crime there. Subways are never nice to walk down at the best of times, i try to avoid them unless its a busy one.

Ms_Chocaholic

Many years ago, I heard that if you are walking somewhere and fear for your safety, keep your keys in your hand but have each key pointing outwards through each finger so if someone trys to attack you, you can hit them and the keys will really hurt.

DKLS

I bought my best mate a can of pepper spray when I went to Belgium, a week after she was attacked, she sprayed the full can at him, followed by a good kick to the nuts then she ran and called the police, she was given a rollocking and warned she could be charged, however the attacker didnt complain so all was good.
As I go the states quite frequently she is now pestering me to get her a taser!

tanith

Thanks for all the useful advice I hadn't thought of an alarm... in this particular alleyway there is NO security at all it actually runs along the back of a school so is fairly busy but of course there have been times when I have walked through and not seen a soul and its far enough away from buildings that I might not be heard...

I guess I just have to weigh up the risk myself and I might buy and alarm and see if that gives me more confidence...

Errata

Tanith, I can understand your concerns. It may be that the lady who was so badly injured looked 'muggable' and you may not. How about having a chat with your local coppers and asking for their view on the safety of the subway and your use of it.

pboae

People only tend to get beaten up when they are mugged if they fight back. So if you are very worried about it, set things up so that you won't feel any need to fight back. It's common practice to carry a mugger's wallet when you go abroad, so it's no different to that really.

For example, you could get a handbag, not your usual one, put a few bits in it, a pack of tissues, a purse with £1-£2 in change. Put your alarm, proper purse and house keys in your pocket (assuming you don't need to carry much if you are just popping to your daughters). That way if you do get mugged, you can just let them take the bag without a second thought.

The other side of that, is that having a plan will give you additional confidence as well, and so make it less likely that you will be a victim in the first place.

viktory

tanith wrote: »

Locally to where I live there are several subways and alleys that I have used very often.. one of these alleyways allows me to get to my daughters house in 10 mins .. I heard today that a local lady left work in the middle of the day and was mugged on the way in one of these local subways , sadly she is now fighting for her life... he not only stole her bag but beat her badly .

This has reinforced my OH arguement that I shouldn't use this alleyway and if I am honest I now have my doubts too... BUT!!! I do not want to let the bullies win and feel that if I now avoid this journey (the alternative route is much much longer and it won't be a flying visit often anymore ) its just another thing that I am too 'frightened' to do in my daily life...and it makes me MAD!!!

Any thoughts peeps? Is it a risk worth still taking? or should I just be a wimp and go the long way round?

I use a subway and I must admit, it scares me, especially now it is dark after work. BUT, the alternative is a long 10 minutes walk so I am going to continue to use the subway.

Sometimes I run through it though

Only you can decide - personally, if I heard that someone had been attacked in my subway I would stop using it. I think. The alarm is an excellent idea.

Ms_Chocaholic wrote: »

Many years ago, I heard that if you are walking somewhere and fear for your safety, keep your keys in your hand but have each key pointing outwards through each finger so if someone trys to attack you, you can hit them and the keys will really hurt.

I do hold my keys like this as well.

tanith

Can I just ask if any men answered this thread? I wonder if a man would feel the same way I do about it?