1. 🧵 Thinking of the family of #SarahEverard waking up to the horrible reality of her loss today. I recently spoke with a male interviewer about #GenderEquity & he was shocked when I spoke about not feeling safe as a woman. So I told him about my experiences... #TriggerWarning
2. When I was in college I was out for a run one day in the local woods. I heard a sound behind me and looked back and saw a guy running after me. No big deal right - he's probably out for a run too? Except he's wearing jeans, a suede jacket and boots...
3. I feel that stab of fear (that every woman has felt at some stage) & pick up the pace but I'm near the end of my session and tiring fast. He's gaining on me & I realise I can't outrun him (despite the fact I've represented Ireland in athletics) he's a man and he's just faster!
4. There's a bend in the path ahead followed by a crossroads so I give it everything I have and sprint around that corner out of sight. I then shoot straight off the path and into the trees and huddle down in the undergrowth as quick as I can. He rounds the corner and stops...
5. The man looks around wondering which way I've gone and he SMILES. I still remember the fear in that moment, trying so hard to be quiet, to control my breathing and my aching limbs and to this day I can actually smell the wet ferns I buried myself in at the memory of it
6. He starts to run up one of the paths,then changes his mind and stops dead. He just stands there looking all around, searching for me. He walks up and down a few times and passes right by my hiding place. After what seems like hours he starts to walk away on the original path
7. I watch him retreat into the distance but I'm still too afraid to move. I'm worried it's a trick and he's back-tracked and that as soon as I appear he'll grab me. So I stay there for ages, cold and cramped until I finally summon the courage to actually make a break for home
8. It's a very long time before I go running alone again... My second "lucky escape" was even scarier. It was a few years later and was more reminiscent of the #SarahEverard case. I was in the States on a J1 visa and on my way home alone after a night out
9. Of course I shouldn't have been alone, I probably also should have been out so late, drinking and wearing a short dress (despite the oppressive heat) all of the things I as the woman would have been blamed for had this story had a different ending #VictimBlaming
10. I was with friends in the nightclub but we got separated afterwards until it was just two of us. My friend lived farther away in a different direction and there was one space left in a taxi so I told her to take it and I would run home and be there in 20 minutes
11. Our house was out of town but it was the early hours of the morning and the roads were quiet so I take off running (not particularly fast since I'm wearing sandals). I'm not too far from home when I hear a car coming but it doesn't worry me too much until it slows down...
12. To my absolute horror it's a pick-up truck full of young drunk guys shouting and roaring as they pass by. Instinct kicks in and my blood runs cold - I know I'm very vulnerable and in a dangerous situation. My heart literally stops when the truck stops dead just up the road...
13. Adrenaline kicks in and I do what I do best I start to run...again. Memories of the woods that day come flooding back. Luckily I've just passed a Fire Station on the other side of the street so I quickly double backwards as the truck makes a u-turn just up ahead...
14. I'm vaguely aware of losing a shoe as I sprint across the road but it's the least of my worries. In my terrified mind I'm thinking Firemen are heroes they'll save me. Then I enter the Fire Station and realise there are no lights on. Panic rises as I realise it could be closed
15. I frantically bang on the door hoping someone is just asleep inside but nobody answers. I hear the truck getting closer so in a blind panic I just make for the surrounding trees again. I find a spot to hide just as the truck roars to a stop. There are 5 drunk guys inside...
16. The men are drinking bottles of whiskey and cans of beer and "just want to party" with me. They call for me to come out and "play" with them. "A pretty young thing like you shouldn't be cold and lonely in the dark - come out here and we'll warm you up"
17. At first they think it's hilarious but when I don't appear they get angry and suddenly I've gone from a "pretty young thing" to a "f***ing b***h" and a "w***e". They say they're going to "teach me a hard lesson". They start smashing bottles and searching for me...
18. I'm huddled in the trees again more terrified than I've ever been in my entire life. I start praying it'll just be over quickly and that the pain won't be too bad. I cry silently in the dark thinking of my family back at home in Ireland wondering if I'll ever see them again
19. My saving grace is their drunkenness... they stumble around and finally start to get bored. One of them suggests that the strip club might still be open to which another responds he'd prefer the local brothel because he needs "a good f**k after this"
20. Eventually after what feels like a lifetime they pile back into the truck and drive away. I lie in the dirt, crying, covered in a cold sweat, shoeless, thanking my lucky stars and cursing myself for my stupidity. I know I've just had the luckiest escape of my life
21. I wait for the daylight and make my way home to a houseful of frantic friends who are horrified at my appearance and appalled at my experience. We're all appropriately chastened and nobody ever goes anywhere alone again that summer
22. I'm fully sure I would have been raped that night and possibly worse. And I'm aware I'm telling these stories from a place of privilege and there may be women reading this who weren't so lucky. My heart genuinely breaks for you, my sisters #Survivors #SexualAssault
23. So for all the men who are thinking it's an equal world for us women and tweeting #NotAllMen just remember this "The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing" (JFK) Please always call out bad behaviour & listen when we speak #BeAnAlly #IWD
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