On Fri, 20 Aug 1999, Mike Stewart wrote: > -----Original Message----- > From: Katherine Becker > > "There is this myth that if you're a woman traveling alone people will > instantly want to kill you." > > The real myth is that it's just women, and bad people have absolutely no > desire to do harm to a man. That's why men can travel about on their > motorcycles with reckless abandon, safe in the knowledge that no one will > touch them. Even if harm is attempted, we're big, strong men and can easily > fend off that urban yoof with the knife or 9mm. Women, OTOH, are resigned > to riding with their male SOs, or not at all. > > My wife buys into this myth, unfortunately. "Well, I'm a lone woman on a > bike." What the fewk is *that* supposed to mean?
Argh! The "Mean World Syndrome" rears its ugly head.
Does your wife go to the grocery store alone? Does she drive back and forth to work alone? Do you escort her when she goes to use the ATM machine at the local bank? Are the random strangers at the mall in Gastonia somehow less dangerous than the random strangers at the mall in Ann Arbor? Does staying within a half-hour of home convey protection from bad people? I think not!
There are bad people in this world. Bad things have always happened and always will. But there are many, many good people out there as well, and even more who are basically neutral, who will mind their own business and not bother you.
Male or female, anyone on a bike is in more danger than if they were in a car. Is this increase in danger greater for women? I think not! Brain dead cagers that don't even see you certainly don't know if you are male or female. Deer probably don't even realize there's a human riding that scary noisy beast, let alone comprehend the rider's gender. Slippery patches of gravel or cage spooge are inanimate and therefore gender-neutral. And lone women in cars are every bit as easy to spot as lone women on bikes.
I have no patience with the notion that staying close to home will magically protect me from danger. I have an assortment of personal protection strategies which I employ all the time, not just when I'm alone on the road. The importance of making such things a habit cannot be overstated. I also think that women in general have too much invested in "being nice" and "not making a scene". Being nice and not making a scene is like putting your personal power on a silver platter and handing it to the big bad wolf.
Does your wife realize that statistically, you are by far the most likely person to harm her? Over half of female murder victims are killed by their current or former spouses and lovers. Twelve times as many women are murdered by men they know, than are murdered by strangers. Only 20% of sexual assaults are perpetrated by assailants unknown to the victim. Like I've said before: If I were in a freeway rest area and some stranger was threatening me, other strangers would interfere. If I were at home getting beaten up, a victim of domestic violence, all my neighbors would know but they wouldn't do a damn thing.
Overall, men are more likely to be victims of crimes in almost every category. You men are in danger out there! Maybe you had better stay home, install an alarm system, get some handguns, put bars over your windows and six deadbolts on your front door.
The only crimes which women are more likely than men to fall victim to, are those where the perpetrator is known to the victim, and sexual assault. Rape is not about sex; it is about power. Tell me again how convincing myself that I'm weak, and staying close to home because I'm powerless without a man, is going to protect me from some rat bastard who is looking for an easy target so he can feel powerful?
I value my personal freedom very highly. If I give up my personal freedom in a vain attempt to be safe, the "bad guy" has taken away a very precious thing, and I didn't even fight back. Not only that, but the safety purchased at such great cost is of only marginal value. Suppose my chosen companion in this cage turns on me? If I'm too afraid to flee out the open cage door, where shall I go? Thanks but no thanks; I'm keeping my free range lifestyle.
"There are two kinds of riders, those that have gone down, and those
that will go down."
Someday, I may be the victim of a crime, whether or not I go on the road
alone. I've made my peace with that idea, the same way other listers have
made their peace with the idea that someday, they may well crash their
motorcycles. Do you give up riding because you may crash? If so, why are
you here, do you enjoy tormenting yourself with reminders of the
restrictive circle you've drawn around your life? After all, it's far
more likely that one of us will crash tomorrow, than it is that one of us
will become a crime statistic tomorrow.
The relationship of victim to offender differs significantly between male and female victims of homicide. Compared to a man, a woman is far more likely to be killed by her spouse, an intimate acquaintance, or a family member than she is to be murdered by a stranger. More than 12 times as many females were murdered by a male they knew (1,866 victims) than were killed by male strangers (151 victims) in single victim/single offender incidents in 1996.1 Of victims who knew their offenders (1,866 victims), more than half (1,051 victims or 56 percent) were wives, common law wives, ex-wives, or girlfriends of the offenders.
... from the Violence Policy Center
Physical Assault
Physical assaults by someone known to the victim is a leading cause of
injury to women. An estimated 1.8 million women are assaulted each year
year by the men they share a household with or consider their partners...
A 1993 national poll found that 34 percent of adults in the United States reported having witnessed a man beating his wife or girlfriend, and that 14 percent of women reported that a husband or boyfriend had been violent with them....
Homicide.
Approximately 5,300 women die annually in the United States as a result of
homicide. Over half of these women will be murdered by someone they know.
Statistic also indicate that homicide is the leading cause of occupational
injury deaths for women--41 percent for females compared with 10 percent
for males. Homicides committed against spouses or other intimates are
often preceeded by a history of physical and emotional abuse directed at
the women. Preventing homicides among spouses and intimates is directly
linked to preventing abuse. Homicide in the workplace are primarily
robbery related and often occur in stores, particularly convenience
stores. CDC is currently working to determine which features of store
design may increase worker safety. This information may help prevent
violence against workers in retail settings where substantial numbers of
women are employed.
...from the Center for Disease Control
Approximately 20% of sexual assaults against women are perpetrated by assailants unknown to the victim. The remainder are committed by friends, acquaintances, intimates, and family members. Acquaintance rape is particularly common among adolescent victims.
...from the American Medical Association
Who Commits Rapes
...from the National Victim Center
Some PDF documents from the Sourcebook of Criminal Justice Statistics that compare frequency of crime victimization for men vs. women.