The reality is that being safe from personal attack is not a gender issue. Neither is it a size / bulk issue. Rape can, and does, occur to both genders and both can be very, very reluctant to report the issue.
Statistics do indicate that you are more likely to be a victim of a violent assault as a man than a woman, but more likely to be a sexual victim as a woman than a man. Both rely on reported statistics and both genders can be reluctant to report crime for a variety of reasons. Many men are, in reality the subject of assaults by women - and are both reluctant to fight back or report the issue for fear of being seen as either a violent abuser (fighting back) or a "wuss" (reporting the crime).
The truth is even a large, imposing and phsically fit male can be the victim of unprovoked assault (the "gunslinger" effect).
The truth is that all people need to take care of their personal safety - men just as much as women. The reality of being out in the countryside is that you are far more likely to come to phsical harm from natural hazards (a trip, fall, bad weather, tree fall etc.) than you are from another human. One attempts to mitigate such risks through learning, awareness and equipment. One can, if one chooses, extend mitigation to the threat of physical assault -however as with enviromental hazards, avoiding putting yourself in an unduly hazardous situation will always be the safest strategy.
The point of all of this is that there is no safe option. Country or town. Man or woman. Go in company? Statistics say you are far more likely to be attacked by someone you know than a stranger.
Life is all about risk, and, for me, I don't want a sanitised, regulated, cotton wool wrapped life. Thats a lot of the attraction of the "wilds". Sure I may burn myself on a fire, yes I may get cold or wet, slip, stumble or fall, cut myself with a knife or whatever. Its my job to ensure these things don't happen. Sometimes they will happen despite my best efforts to avoid them. But, for all of that, being in charge of myself is a great part of the enjoyment for me.
I would not wish a physical attack on anyone (male or female), but for each of us, we need to decide, as with so many other elements of Bushcraft and indeed life, whether the probability of a bad outcome is enough to forgo the pleasure of the most likely and pleasant one.
Red
Statistics do indicate that you are more likely to be a victim of a violent assault as a man than a woman, but more likely to be a sexual victim as a woman than a man. Both rely on reported statistics and both genders can be reluctant to report crime for a variety of reasons. Many men are, in reality the subject of assaults by women - and are both reluctant to fight back or report the issue for fear of being seen as either a violent abuser (fighting back) or a "wuss" (reporting the crime).
The truth is even a large, imposing and phsically fit male can be the victim of unprovoked assault (the "gunslinger" effect).
The truth is that all people need to take care of their personal safety - men just as much as women. The reality of being out in the countryside is that you are far more likely to come to phsical harm from natural hazards (a trip, fall, bad weather, tree fall etc.) than you are from another human. One attempts to mitigate such risks through learning, awareness and equipment. One can, if one chooses, extend mitigation to the threat of physical assault -however as with enviromental hazards, avoiding putting yourself in an unduly hazardous situation will always be the safest strategy.
The point of all of this is that there is no safe option. Country or town. Man or woman. Go in company? Statistics say you are far more likely to be attacked by someone you know than a stranger.
Life is all about risk, and, for me, I don't want a sanitised, regulated, cotton wool wrapped life. Thats a lot of the attraction of the "wilds". Sure I may burn myself on a fire, yes I may get cold or wet, slip, stumble or fall, cut myself with a knife or whatever. Its my job to ensure these things don't happen. Sometimes they will happen despite my best efforts to avoid them. But, for all of that, being in charge of myself is a great part of the enjoyment for me.
I would not wish a physical attack on anyone (male or female), but for each of us, we need to decide, as with so many other elements of Bushcraft and indeed life, whether the probability of a bad outcome is enough to forgo the pleasure of the most likely and pleasant one.
Red
