If you have a dog, there's no reason why to be afraid alone at dark. Otherwise, following some basic safety rules should be enough.
I received an interesting question from one of my readers from Israel:
My daughter has been accepted to the vet school in Brno and will be starting her studies in the fall. […] Could you please advise regarding the safety of women outside at night? Until what time is it acceptable? Are there any neighborhoods that should be avoided?
I have been reading news from the local police department every day since last year and I am glad to say that these bad things don’t happen often in Brno. But, sadly, it doesn’t mean they don’t happen at all.
It’s impossible to tell any time until which it’s acceptable to walk alone outside. Here is why:
- Most rapes in the Czech republic are commited by men known to the victim. (I think it is the same in other countries.) And these things rather don’t happen “outside at night”. It’s wise to be careful when you are alone outside, but it’s more important to take seriously all the hidden threats, such is dating a guy you know from internet etc.
- Generally speaking, distant suburbs built in the 1970s-1980s are less safe for women than the centre of the city. It’s probably because there are more places – let’s face the disgusting truth – where nobody will hear the screaming. That means hedges between distant blocks of flats, huge cellars and elevators. Women living in these places should use taxis at night or ask their roommates to wait for them at bus stands.
- If you have a big dog, then there’s nothing to be afraid of. Otherwise, buy a defensive spray (€5).
- Although policemen in Brno don’t have to deal with rape often, Czech republic still has a problem with sexual harassment. Twenty years ago, it was pretty common to slap butts of female coworkers. Pretty women still have to deal with whistling and other uncivilised acts. Sadly, police won’t help with this – so there are basically two possibilities: to ignore the savage man, or to slap his face.
I also asked one of my female friends to tell me something about the issue from her point of view:
Night buses are usually filled with students, so there’s nothing to be scared of. However, you can stay alone in the bus if you ride to distant suburbs – that’s just not nice. Some of my female friends are not afraid to walk alone through whole town at night, other are afraid to leave their apartment alone and without a defensive spray. I think that the right strategy lies somewhere in between – buy a defensive spray and walk with friends if that’s possible.
Still: Czech republic is one of the safest places for women on Earth and Czech men take women more seriously than, let’s say, members of some nations of southern Europe. However, there are still issues to be solved.
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