This is all very good advice and I would add try not to put yourself in vulnerable situations although sometimes that's not possible. I say this as someone who was attacked years ago in a parking lot. Knife to throat. Other details not necessary. It doesn't always happen to someone else. Been pretty hyper vigilant since. Had PTSD before it was "cool". Crippling. What helped me was, after a few years, taking a martial art. I got my confidence back! Remember our instructor telling us once if we are ever attacked DON'T FIGHT FAIR.
I've put the pieces back together! Stay safe friends!
Starry, I am so sorry that happened. I'm glad you are feeling more confident, and martial arts really is a life saver for giving people their power back. Don't fight fair is amazing advice. But to take it further...
I feel like many women (and men) need to remember that it is ok not to be polite. If someone is making you feel uncomfortable, your safety is more important than their feelings. I've posted in this thread about this before, but I was out hiking with my dog, and a man gave me the heebie jeebies. I met him in the parking lot, and he was staring at me. When I met him on the trail (which was usually well-traveled) I put my German Shepherd in a tight heel, raised my phone, and took a picture of him. Stared him down as meanly as I could. Then took a photo of his car when I got back to the parking lot. There was something about him that made me REALLY uncomfortable. Watching the news that night, I saw his face. He was arrested for assaulting a woman on another trail in the adjacent town, who was walking her big dog, no less.
I have tried to think of what might have set me off about him. Certainly, he didn't look like he belonged on that trail. It is in a really wealthy community, and pretty much everyone there is walking a dog. He was dressed sort of oddly for hiking, and didn't have a dog. But he also had a soccer bag style backpack with him, which really stuck out, because this trail isn't big enough to need to bring supplies. Whatever it was, my gut was absolutely screaming that something was wrong. And thank goodness I listened. Normally, my need to be polite would have been the driving factor, and I would have smiled politely even if he made me uncomfortable, but I had a guardian angel looking out for me that day.
So ladies, be rude if there is cause. It might make no difference, but it might also make all the difference.