Katie Bice: Truth is, we are never totally safe
IN the wake of Eurydice Dixon’s murder, the uncomfortable truth is that women will never be free of the risk of sexual violence, writes Katie Bice.
Opinion
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IT’S easier than you might imagine to find yourself walking alone at night.
Suddenly it’s later than you thought, you’re not that far from home, you don’t want to pester anyone to pick you up or walk with you.
Every woman in Melbourne has their own story of the time they did something they knew wasn’t exactly “safe” but seemed like the best option at the time.
Mine was after a night out with workmates when, after spilling on to the city streets from a night of bad dancing and worse karaoke, we decided to head home.
COMMUNITY REELS FROM EURYDICE’S TRAGIC DEATH
EURYDICE FOLLOWED BY KILLER AFTER PERFORMANCE, POLICE BELIEVE
A mate and I lived within a few blocks of each other so started looking for a cab together. The story bluntly examines the difference between how men and women view their safety after hours.
He noticed one of the bar managers, a stranger, heading to his van and asked for a lift — something a female wouldn’t do.
My mate thought we had struck gold when the guy agreed; I was sure we were heading for certain death. After a trip through the city we arrived at my mate’s house and oblivious to the drama unfolding in my mind, he lumbered inside to bed. So I was left with the choice: walk the two and a half blocks home in the dark or take my chances with the man in the van. I took off on foot, at quick pace mind, and made it home with a slight sigh of relief.
Nothing happened, I was fine. But this story would be repeated hundreds of times each weekend.
In hindsight, the solutions are simple, but time moves quickly in the wee hours of the morning and common sense and good judgment are elusive.
From almost the moment women are old enough to go out, we abide by a code of looking out for one another. We travel in groups, make sure someone drives so we’ve got a guaranteed passage home, pack each other into taxis or sleep over at each other’s houses.
Most of us aren’t living in fear, we’re just uneasy, nervous of what could lie around the next corner.
We can bleat as much as we like about how women should be able to feel safe walking the streets. And of course they should.
But I’m either a pessimist, a realist or both to say we have never lived in a society free from sexual assault and physical attacks on women by men — and we never will.
What happened to poor Eurydice Dixon is, thankfully, the exception rather than the norm. There but for the grace of God go us all.
Katie Bice is Sunday Herald Sun deputy editor
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