They are walking towards me. There are five of them. Men. Their eyes are hidden behind heavy furrowed brows. I'm 5ft 9in, but at least two of them are taller than me.

I suddenly feel my heart beat faster. It's jumping out of my chest. I look to the left and to the right to try to find the best exit route, but there is none.

I am in Cologne – the city where over a hundred young women were sexually assaulted and at least two raped as they were groped and robbed on New Year's Eve. And for the first time since I arrived I am scared.

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MailOnline reporter Sara Malm (pictured) in Cologne – the city where over a hundred young women were sexually assaulted and at least two raped as they were groped and robbed on New Year's Eve

Rows of police officers stand guard following the recent spate of assaults on women by migrant gangs

The men are white and have shaved heads. Their bomber jackets pledge allegiance to the far-right.

Supporters for the anti-immigration movement PEGIDA held a large demonstration on the streets of Cologne yesterday following the spate of sexual assaults and robberies on New Year's Eve.

Counter-protesters as well as members of women's rights group marched during the peaceful demonstration, calling for the government to help safeguard the streets.

Now I am walking in the footsteps of scores of young women who have told in terrifying detail how they were surrounded by hordes of Arab and North African men who put their hands in places that no one, without permission, should go.

It's pitch black, and now I can understand how the five-minute stroll from the river Rhine fireworks display on December 31 to the city's central station could go horribly wrong. No matter how old you are. And clearly no matter how many you are.

One of the victims, an 18-year-old called Michelle, has described how she and her ten friends linked hands as they approached 30 'angry' men, who proceeded to grope them, rob them, and assault them.

Another told how the 'sex mob' separated her from her boyfriend and put their hands between her legs, on her breasts, under her clothes. Her boyfriend tried to pull her away from them, but couldn't.

As you walk from the river, past the beautiful Gothic cathedral, down towards the station, you are forced to go through a passage.

This passageway acted as a bottleneck of sorts on New Years Eve. Especially if you are 11 teenage girls facing 30 men. There's nowhere to run but back or forwards. They wouldn't have had anywhere to escape.

I spend a good few hours walking around this modern German city. I notice there are no women walking alone

I am walking in the footsteps of scores of young women who have told in terrifying detail how they were surrounded by hordes of Arab and North African men who put their hands in places that no one, without permission, should go

Concerns remain the attacks appear to be spreading with copycat assaults in Austria and Sweden

Cologne's mayor Henriette Reker sparked outrage by suggesting women should prevent sex attacks by keeping men at an 'arm's length'

Women shout slogans and hold up a placard that reads 'Against Sexism - Against Racism' as they march through the main railways station of Cologne

This is where hundreds of women were forced to 'run the gauntlet' of collective sexual abuse. The mass attack on vulnerable women – known in Arabic as 'taharrush gamea' – is reportedly common in Middle Eastern and North African countries, according to newspaper Die Welt, and German authorities have launched a taskforce to combat it.

Later as I walked by the river-bank three men followed me. And as I had veered off towards the bright lights of a nearby restaurant, they had started to move closer. I had no idea of this of course. I neither heard nor saw them, and probably wouldn't have until it was too late.

My colleagues tell me that they were of an immigrant background, but that is beside the point. It's the fact that I had no idea they were even there.

I spend a good few hours walking around this modern German city. I notice there are no women walking alone.

This is Saturday night. In the wake of violent protests earlier in the day, there are thousands of uniformed police officers on patrol. But still, there are no women walking alone.

My late-night stroll takes me around the city's central train station, the historic cathedral and towards the river Rhine – the area which a Cologne councillor recently branded a 'no-go' zone for women.

Knowing this, I tense up. I become hyper alert to any movement. Out of the corner of my eye I can see a group of men running alongside me. Towards me. Are they white? Are they black? The area is so badly lit up, they could be purple for all I know.

But I can see that they are men and I can see that they are young. A group which statistics, common sense and experience, tells me is more likely to attack a lone woman than any other.

I'm suddenly extremely aware of where my exit routes are. I may be 25 and blonde but I'm not a fool.

Security officials try to lead away a man on New Year's Eve when a wave of sexual assaults were reported

Crowds clash under Germany police, with migrants chucking fireworks in Cologne

Chaotic scenes from Cologne on New Years Eve. Similarly sexual assault cases have been reported across Europe with gangs of migrants being blamed for the attacks

Reports have emerged of a gang of migrants throwing fireworks at crowds and sexually assaulting women

Taunted: Police have revealed how the violent crowd, which was 'mainly' made up of migrants, openly mocked them as they tried to regain control of Cologne city centre in the run up to midnight on New Year's Eve

Cologne police stand guard outside the main railway station in Cologne, Germany

Anger: The beat bobbies who dealt with the mobs have rubbished police chief and council claims that the mob was not made up of asylum seekers, saying they saw mainly migrants on New Year's Eve

Danger: Some visitors have cancelled planned holidays to Cologne (pictured) and women are said to fear going out by themselves at night

Manhunt: At least 12 more people are being sought in connection with over 100 complaints from women attacked on the last night of the year (pictured, flowers left at the scene of the mass attack)

Later in a bar I bump into Michaela and Svenja. They are happy-go-lucky twenty-somethings who have moved to Cologne in the past year. I ask them if they've changed their ways after New Year's Eve. At first they, like all other women I have spoken to in Cologne, say no, nothing has changed since the 'sex mob' attack on 31 December.

'We're all good,' Michaela said.

'A bunch of idiot rapists are not going to tell us where to walk, what to wear and what to do at night,' Svenja added.

But then Michaela points out that when they had gone out the night before, she had not wanted Svenja to go home by herself. She made her stay the night at her friend's house instead. There it is again. No women are walking alone.

I stroll down a street popular with pub-crawlers. Two men leer as they walk towards me.

I find myself reacting differently because they are dark-skinned, and I am horrified at my own fear.

I wouldn't have reacted in this way if this happened in London, but the news of 'men of Arabic and North African origin' attacking women in Cologne has clearly got to me somehow. Despite considering myself as liberal-minded as the Swedish come, I react in a way I am not proud of. So no wonder there are no women walking alone.

I speak to a 24-year-old man outside the station. He is around 6ft2, his parents were born in Turkey, and he has a 2015 hipster beard. He tells me how women in Cologne, his hometown, won't look him in the eyes anymore, that they cross the street when they see him.

He shows me how his female friends hold their house keys in their hands like knuckledusters. I know exactly what he is talking about because that's how I've been holding my keys walking home since I was 16 years old.

It's not unique for Cologne. In every city across Europe, perfectly safe women won't walk down their own street at night without keys sticking out between their fingers.