A survey conducted by Platform Magazine on Nottingham Trent University’s City Campus revealed that 54.55 per cent of students do not feel safe walking alone at night.
Following the murder of Sarah Everard and Sabina Nessa, women around the country came forward to express their fears of walking alone.
Sarah Everard was walking home when Met Police officer Wayne Couzens arrested her under false pretences and drove her to the outskirts of London where he raped and strangled her with his police belt.
This abuse of power has led to the Met Police releasing advice to women if they feel unsafe within the presence of a police officer.
The advice has been widely criticised.
If Sarah Everard had followed this advice, they would have confirmed that Wayne Couzens was indeed a police officer….so where do we go from here? https://t.co/pDxJyq0ny7
— Tops (@SincerelyTops) October 1, 2021
#victimblaming #SarahEverard the police gives advice on how to deal with abusive policemen. That is an admission of incompetence. https://t.co/R9uEEXe1Py
— Ana Zakhya (@AnaZakhya) October 1, 2021
Sabina Nessa, a primary school teacher, was murdered while on a five-minute walk through a park to meet her friend at a pub.
Her murder, which has been said to have involved extreme violence, has been labelled as premeditated and predatory.
Many have spoken up about male violence being a real and pressing issue that has to be addressed following recent events.
When will male violence be taken seriously? pic.twitter.com/NjghIJKxbO
— Yemisi Adegoke (@briticoyemo) September 29, 2021
These comments are appalling. It’s not up to women to fix this. It’s not us who need to change. The problem is male violence, not women’s ‘failure’ to find ever more inventive ways to protect ourselves against it. For change to happen, this needs to be accepted by everyone. https://t.co/8oC2c5U9Pj
— Nicola Sturgeon (@NicolaSturgeon) October 1, 2021
Cases such as these have brought people’s fears to the forefront of the media and brought attention to how frightening walking home at night can be.
Students are among those who have expressed how they do not feel safe.
An overwhelming 73.17 per cent of the female NTU students we spoke to said they feel unsafe walking home at night, while 24 per cent of the male students expressed similar views.
23 (34.85 per cent) out of a total of 66 students that took part in the survey said that they feel safe walking home at night.
Of this number, 17 (68 per cent) participants were male students, while six (14.63 per cent) of them were girls.
10.61 per cent of the students we talked to have said that whether they feel safe walking alone at night or not depends on factors such as the area of the city, street lighting, or the number of people walking around the same area.
Laura McCoubrey, an NTU Law LLB student, said: “There’s always people around so I feel safe.
“Everyone I’ve spoken to seems friendly so I’m not scared.”
Another Law LLB student, Libby Clements, added: “There’s always police around so nothing could really happen.”
Ray Laybourn, an NTU Product Design student, said: “I’m a boy and I live in Radford with two girls, I don’t feel like people would target me but my housemates should definitely be more cautious.”
If you ever need a ride home after a night out, Nottingham Trent Students’ Union has an agreement with Nottingham Cars.
That means you can get a taxi home whenever you need to and pay for it the following day.
All you need to do is call Nottingham Cars on 01159 700 700 to book a taxi, stating you need to use the Student Emergency Fare scheme.
For more information, check out the Safe Taxis Scheme.
By Rucsandra Moldoveanu and Rose Edwards
Lead image: Rucsandra Moldoveanu