Knock, I come from a household where chivalry was insisted upon, and my own youngfella equally will open the front door and stand back to let the girls in, but there is a point at which it is debatable what can actually be done in practical terms to improve this. I imagine the fear women have when walking alone is primarily based on the fact that a male will almost certainly overpower them if the situation arose, and secondly there are numerous instances of it happening every year so it is real and certainly not imaginary. However, switching sides of the road is valiant and everything, but is it really achieving much, and does it really make women feel any safer? The vast majority of Irish boys are brought up by their parents to respect women and not to attack women, or anyone else for that matter - As a parent I didn't need anyone to tell me this, and I cant imagine many would since all men have a mother and most will have sisters, wives, female friends etc etc. I am fairly certain that none of my friends or family would attack a woman. The Irish men need to talk to your boys stuff was fairly patronising for most, my wife disagreed with it profusely at the time and still would. I would imagine that in most cases where a woman has been attacked and sexually assaulted there are some mental issues at play? Glad to be corrected if thats not the case.
My own missus goes walking alone in the evenings so its dark at the moment, I'd prefer if she didn't and went with a friend or neighbour but she tends to take the opportunity as it arises so planning ahead doesn't always happen. In that case all she can really do to protect herself is walk somewhere well lit, and ideally where others will be walking. Both of those measures are going to be significantly more effective than men crossing the road when they approach her. I dont think she should wear headphones as it is one of the senses removed but thats her call. The lady that was knocked down by a van that mounted the running path intentionally and mowed down a few years back was a friends wife. My wife still walks there regularly, its just one of those tragic things that happened for some reason that has never come to light, no amount of people switching paths or whatever will make her feel more or less safe.
When Im running and encounter a women or women up ahead I tend to start a bit of a cough to try give a signal that someone is behind them and generally I'll leave the pavement and run on the road passing them unless there are cars obviously. When it is dark I would have flashing lights on my running bib so they might get a flicker of those approaching, but darting across the road with traffic and back again just seems pointless
