DASHING to your car alone at night with your keys clenched in your hands ready to use them as a makeshift weapon if confronted by a would-be rapist.

Not feeling safe to walk or run in your own neighbourhood, even during the day.

Treating your phone as a lifeline — calling a friend or relative, or even pretending to speak to someone, every time a stranger walks behind you in silence.

Camera Icon Eurydice Dixon. Credit: Facebook

Feeling so intimidated you move when someone stares at you on the train. Avoiding certain places that you have every right to use, from the city centre and Northbridge to laneways and train stations.

Worrying that what you wear could attract the wrong attention.

Never catching a taxi or Uber on your own at night or, if you do, subtly taking a photo of the driver and their ID.

Having to deal with being followed, harassed — even being confronted by a peeping tom touching himself outside your window.

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These are just some of the realities faced by a group of seven high-profile women who The Sunday Times spoke to this week in the wake of the groundswell of outrage over the alleged rape and murder of Melbourne comedian Eurydice Dixon, pictured. And solidarity that something has to change.

These women in their 20s and 30s come from different backgrounds, but share one sad fact in common —they don’t feel safe alone in their own city after dark.

Like all women, they each have their own stories, their own set of precautions they stick by to make themselves feel safer; things that wouldn’t even enter the minds of most men.

Caitlin Parker, 22, is a Commonwealth Games silver medallist boxer, but even with her combat sport skills she doesn’t feel safe alone most of the time. “I can defend myself a bit better, because I have that experience. However, that won’t do much for me against a weapon or a group of people,” she said.

Ms Parker said the only time she felt safe going for a walk or run was when she had her two German shepherds with her. Other times, she keeps her earphones out of one ear so she can stay alert.

Camera Icon These WA women don’t feel safe walking alone at night. Credit: Daniel Wilkins

Model Olivia Patmore, 20, feels constantly on edge when she’s out alone, and doesn’t even feel comfortable going for a solo run or walk in her own Wanneroo neighbourhood. “I’m just scared that anyone will spot me, they’ll follow me home, they’ll see where I live,” she said. “I don’t go into Northbridge, it’s too scary ... I’ve had friends who have had their drinks spiked.”

Ms Patmore said personal safety was a topic she was exposed to from a young age.

“I remember talking with my friends years ago when we were in Year 9 and 10 saying don’t wear a ponytail; it’s easier to grab if you’re running,” she said. What she wore out in public was “something I always think about” but not just because she’s fashion conscious.

“My mum has tried to educate me, not because she thinks I’m doing anything wrong but because she knows how many sick and crazy people are out there,” she said.

“If I’m wearing a low-cut top, I’ll wear a jacket and I’ll make sure I’m covered up until I’m inside.”

Seven News reporter Amelia Broun said her job, which included reporting on shocking crimes, made her more paranoid than the average person, but growing up in Claremont around the time of the 1990s serial killings, her parents instilled in her to never walk alone after dark.

When she does find herself alone walking to her car, she’ll call her husband or a girlfriend to calm her nerves and so someone’s on the line if something happens.

“I still feel particularly unsafe in the Perth CBD and Northbridge after dark,” Ms Broun said. “I, like a lot of my friends, experience wolf whistles, snide comments, more aggressive comments and have been followed.

“It’s a shame because there are so many amazing bars and restaurants, but I do always dread the end of the night when it’s time to either get on a train home — which I now would never do alone after dark — or walk to my car. That walk might only be 100m, but there’s no doubt I feel nervous doing it every single time.

“I certainly always have my keys in my hands for a quick entry to my car. There’s also part of me that thinks I could stab a rapist in the eye.”

But it’s not only the unease of being solo in public that’s an issue for women. Amid the rising scourges of domestic violence and sexual harassment, many women feel equally or even more unsafe in their own homes, or workplaces.

MORE:WA has the ‘highest rate’ of sexual violence

Ms Broun, 30, said a sickening incident that stuck in her mind was when she was on a work assignment in Kalgoorlie and was in bed in her hotel room after showering at night when she noticed a man with his pants down touching himself right up against her window.

“I called my husband in hysterics,” she said. “The police were called but I don’t know if he was ever caught. The worst part is, I have no idea how long the man had been watching me.”

Cassie Rowe, the 37-year-old MP for Belmont, agreed it’s not a geographical problem, rather an everywhere and an everyone problem — and one the Government can’t tackle without the whole community being on board.

In her 20s she was subjected to sustained sexual harassment in the workplace, behaviour that otherwise good people turned a blind eye to.

“I have two young daughters and I want to make sure they grow up in a society where they don’t have to think twice about where they go,” she said.

Heidi Anderson, 92.9 breakfast show host, shared her own scary encounter with an inappropriate taxi driver, which prompted the launch of Swan Taxis’ female-friendly “pink taxis” this weekend, which are driven by women. She strongly believes they should be subsidised by the State Government so they’re free on weekends.

One woman who used the service on Friday night reported she had never felt so safe as a lone female.

Ms Anderson also said teaching self-defence in schools and introducing “safety houses” — reminiscent of Neighbourhood Watch houses — were great ideas.

As a teenager in Bathurst NSW she used to roam the streets late at night, but now the 34-year-old would never dream of it.

“I even worried the other day when I went to get letters out of the letterbox at 8.30 at night and I heard footsteps around the corner, so I ran inside,” she said. “I wouldn’t walk on my own anywhere, not just in Perth.”

Cyber safety expert and psychologist Jordan Foster said safety choices women made regularly were ingrained.

When out with her girlfriends, they always ensure no one is left on their own and she never tags herself in a location on social media until after leaving.

Unlike others, Ms Foster, 28, said she didn’t feel unsafe in Northbridge due to the police presence and would feel more scared walking home from a neighbourhood pub.

“I very much believe in breeding a safety culture ... but on the other hand it would be ideal if we didn’t have to take those measures in the first place,” the chief executive of ySafe said.

Fashion designer Sarah Watanabe said if she was alone at night, she always communicated with her husband or friends about where she was. While others remarked they would feel more comfortable if a man crossed the street rather than walked behind them, Ms Watanabe said she would feel better if they approached her asking her if she was OK rather than stay silent behind her.

Ms Watanabe, the 37-year-old behind label Monster Alphabets, said she feels safer taking an Uber rather than a taxi, because she shares an Uber account with her husband so he can track her movements.

“Not long ago a female was attacked during the day going for a run during her lunch break in the park where I walk my dog,” she said. “Now that I know that has happened I don’t walk inside the park anymore.”

While all agreed it was unfair that women had to change their behaviour and deal with a “victim blaming” culture, they all say there are things men can do to help.

These included calling out bad behaviour they see from other men, being good role models for their own sons, and treating all women with the respect they would show to their mother, sister or partner.

“We shouldn’t be telling little girls how they should dress or how they should wear their hair,” Ms Patmore said. “We should be educating boys from a really young age how you should treat women.”

It was important not to demonise all men, as the vast majority were good, Ms Foster said.

Ms Rowe said the situation was certainly not getting any better, but it could.

“Men need to speak up and stand with us,” she said. “Because it’s those small, harmless incidental things that maybe happen on a daily basis where women are targeted that can give licence to more dangerous actions.”

Ms Broun had this message for men: “We know most of you are good. But put yourselves in the shoes of a young woman every now and then by imagining what it’s like to feel on edge walking the streets of your home city.

“It’s weird, right? Let’s change it.”