TurnRightThenLeft promoted this question.
Do you girls feel as safe as say ten years ago?
Where would you walk and where would you not walk?
Do you feel pornography might have changed mens attitudes towards you in recent years?
Brisbane cycleways have been in the news recently as a place for muggers.
Is Brisbane more or less safe than other big cities?
How does Sydney and Melbourne fare?

Gibo, my grandmother walked at night armed with a hatpin and a starters pistol for protection back in the 30's (Sydney). I get the impression that you try to mke out that things have only recently gone downhill. I dont believe that this is the case - its just that there are more girls out on their own (which wouldnt have been allowed in the past) AND attacks are now muhc more likely to be reported. The human race has always been capable of great evil, given the opportunity.

Gibo, you seem determined to promote the idea that the world is going downhill making claim after claim to that effect. When your claims are rebutted you don't answer with evidence or retraction. On another thread you tried to suggest that there was very little child abuse back in the glory days of the 50's and I provided some links to material regarding child abuse in that period. You have admitted elsewhere that you don't want to learn more prefering to escape to the life of a recluse.

I have the impression that much of your church life is about filling your mind with that which is not noble, that which is wrong, that which is impure, that which is unlovely, that which should be despised. That which is shoddy and of little worth.

You are convinced the world is bad and try desperately to look for evidence of that corruption ignoring all of the great things being done and the progress made. You put faith in the most unlikely conspiracy theories and hide from truth. None of that is good for you either from a human perspective or for your life as a christian.

A word from the bible you might take some time with to measure that which you fill your mind and your posts with -

Philippians 4:8 (New International Version)
"Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things."

R0bert

Dear Gibo,

I go for my evening run in a park in suburban Melbourne every night and I've been doing it for years without any mishaps.

As a matter of fact, people say hello, smile, or make a comment like,
"Good for you!" So its all positive. Often I meet the same people, out for their evening walk, others are also running - so I don't feel threatened in any way. There's plenty of people around as it's a popular park in the area.

Admittedly I'm in a family suburb - not an inner city complex. It's not an industrial area, and there's no 'night-life' activity around.
I might think twice about doing my run alone - under different circumstances. But as things stand - I feel very safe.

Gibo, I don't deny that there are a handful of dodgy places in Australia, where women probably shouldn't go walking alone.
I wouldn't recommend walking alone down King's cross, and there was a series of incidents on a Brisbane bikeway.
Aside from those spots, and a few other inner city precincts where it's unadvisable to walk alone in the wee hours of the morning, everywhere throughout the country's pretty damn safe.

As other posters pointed out - bad things have happened throughout history. You've picked a few incidents and made out like we should all be living in fear, but quite frankly, that would be the case in any period, at any time.

Truth is, every day, millions of Australians are walking freely where they want, without any issues.
Now and then, somebody will have a problem. It's sad. But that's always been the case, and the idea that 'sex crims are taking over' as you mentioned in another thread, is ludicrous.

It's just that today, the media is more encompassing, and the nature of the media, is to focus on these few incidents, which are the exception, not the rule.

So garn, get outside for an afternoon. Go enjoy some sun in the park and maybe even throw a frisbee.

I lived near the Cross (in Darlinghurst) for years in my 20s and never felt scared (or not properly) going too and from my apartment. I've lived in three capital cities in Australia, one huge city in Asia, and one small town in Europe. While I've had some hairy moments, I've never felt truly in danger.

Occasionally, drunk men like to scare young women. But the problem is far more likely to be a bit of persistent sleaziness. Kind but blunt usually worked for me. I've always found that if you genuinely ask a stranger for help, they help. In the Cross, if I thought that some young hipster my age was following me or hanging around, I'd go talk to the roughest biker tattoo parlour guys I could find. They were always the most chivalrous.

I feel much safer generally now than I used to, but mostly that's because I'm pushing 40 now and I long ago settled down and coupled up. I don't stumble home in the early hours any more. My husband wouldn't let me.

I accept, though, that there are women just like me to whom bad things happened. But I concur with most others here - most of the time, most people are fine. Danger is usually much closer to home.