Nowadays, it’s widely understood that women can do anything men can do. They’re just as (if not more) intelligent, funny, capable, and wise. But there are, unfortunately, still some things that women don’t exactly feel safe doing.
Walking alone at night is one thing that many women still try to avoid. Not because they’re scared of the dark or aren’t willing to get their steps in, but because certain men have made it impossible for them to feel safe. So when Dallas resident Finnigan Haynes realized she was being followed, she came up with a creative solution to get the creepy men to back off. Below, you’ll find a video Finnigan posted on TikTok detailing the terrifying experience, as well as some of the replies viewers left her.
Walking alone at night is often a frightening experience for women
Image credits: finni.haynes
So when this woman realized she was being followed, she quickly came up with a creative solution to keep herself safe
Image credits: finni.haynes
Image credits: finni.haynes
Image credits: finni.haynes
Image credits: finni.haynes
Image credits: finni.haynes
Image credits: finni.haynes
Image credits: finni.haynes
Image credits: finni.haynes
Image credits: finni.haynes
You can watch Finnigan's full video right here
64% of American women report feeling unsafe walking alone in their neighborhoods at night
If you’re a woman, you probably found this video unsettlingly relatable. Unfortunately, many of us know exactly how it feels to be alone and scared that a stranger is going to take advantage of your vulnerability. And if you aren’t a woman, you might not realize just how frightening an experience like this is. So we’ll try to help you understand exactly why Finnigan was so desperate to guarantee her safety.
According to the Worldwide Independent Network of Market Research, 64% of women in the United States don’t feel confident or safe while walking alone at night in their own neighborhoods. And 46% of women around the world feel the same way.
But this information comes as no surprise when you realize that one-fifth of women around the world report that they’ve been the victims of physical or psychological violence. And in Africa, 49% of women say they’ve suffered violence during the last year.
End Violence Against Women reports that women are over three times as likely as men to feel unsafe walking after dark near their home. And two-thirds of women between the ages of 16 and 34 say they’ve experienced harassment during the last year.
Nearly a third have felt like they’ve been followed, and 44% say they’ve been catcalled, whistled at, and/or received unwanted, inappropriate comments or jokes.
But the fear of being alone in the dark isn’t just paranoia. The BBC reports that one in eight women in the UK have been assaulted or stalked in the past year. And we’ve all heard horror stories of innocent women like Sarah Everard, who was kidnapped and had her life ripped away from her while walking home from a friend’s house in London in 2021.
It's always better to be safe than sorry when encountering strange men
Image credits: LightFieldStudios / envatoelements (not the actual photo)
There’s a reason why about a quarter of women in the US carry pepper spray on them. And Dallas, in particular, can be an extremely dangerous place for women commuting alone. According to statistics from the National Human Trafficking Hotline, Dallas ranked number 8 amongst American cities with the most human trafficking cases between 2007 and 2016.
Refuge for Women reports that Texas is the second-largest hub for trafficking in the United States, and the Dallas/Fort Worth area accounts for over one-third of commercial exploitation cases in the state.
At first glance, someone who has never been followed or threatened might believe that Finnigan took drastic measures to get those creepy men away from her. But when you understand that her life could have been on the line, it makes a lot more sense.
Sadly, this is something women have to consider when confronted with danger. We’ll never know exactly what those men’s intentions were. But it’s much better to be safe than sorry. And if that requires pulling out a bloody pad in public, so be it.
We would love to hear your thoughts on this situation in the comments below, pandas. Are you going to keep this tactic up your sleeve in case you ever find yourself in a similar situation? Feel free to weigh in. Then, you can find another Bored Panda article discussing women’s safety right here.
Viewers applauded Finnigan for her creative solution and called out the men for their disgusting behavior
