ELLA used to feel safe, and used to be a trusting person.

That all changed around 1am on April 15 when the 21-year-old make-up artist was with a female friend near the Perth train station, waiting for the Uber rates to go down before she ordered a ride home to Carramar after a night out in the city.

Camera Icon Ella’s injuries

A group of teenagers sidled up to them, asking for $10 and to use their mobile phone.

Ella politely declined both requests before a teenage girl in the group “snapped” by trying to punch her friend, pushing her to the ground and kicking her in the ribs.

Ella, who didn’t want her surname published, tried to get the girl to stop, but the attacker then turned on her — repeatedly punching her in the face and head, leaving her with a nasty black eye.

There was plenty of people around to witness the quick and frenzied assault, but the group only ran off after transit guards stepped in. Ella said she reported the unprovoked attack to police, but her attacker still hasn’t been caught because the incident was apparently not captured on CCTV cameras.

Ella shared her scary story after last week’s coverage of Perth women speaking out about feeling unsafe on their own in Perth.

“I’m now definitely more aware of what’s going on around me and I don’t trust people as much or as easily as I did before,” she said. “(Outside a train station in the city) is a place where you should feel safe.”

Ella said her ordeal had made her feel uneasy and wary wherever she went, including being among the big crowd for football games at Optus Stadium.

“I tend to go out in a bigger group of people and as soon as I want to go home, I’ll go home no matter how expensive an Uber is,” she said.

“It costs me a bit more money in the long run but I’d rather be safe.

“Just be aware of your surroundings, you can never be too safe. Until something happens to you or someone that you know, you don’t necessarily think it’s going to happen to you.”

Ella knows it’s not just women who feel unsafe.

“It’s boys too. I heard of one who got stabbed in his shoulder. It seems to be getting worse and worse in the city,” she said.

Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) figures show WA women are among the most fearful in the country when it comes to walking alone at night or catching public transport on their own after dark.

Camera Icon Attacked: Ella was repeatedly punched near the Perth train station. Credit: Ross Swanborough

ABS data published this week revealed 59 per cent of assault victims in WA lasy year were female, the highest proportion of any State.

A PerthNow poll this week attracted an overwhelming response — out of 12,000 votes, 76 per cent (or 9100) said they did not feel safe walking alone at night in Perth.

‘We are scared’

LAST Sunday, The Sunday Times did a special report on safety in Perth.

It generated an unprecedented response on PerthNow. Here are some of the comments you submitted when we simply asked “Do you feel safe?”

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“Nope. My daughter and I were assaulted on the streets of Fremantle on Tuesday at 6.30. Just walking to the 7/11 for hot chocolate. Fortunately the female has been arrested. She hit my daughter in the head and punched me in the jaw.”

– Annie Well

“I felt safer at 10.30pm riding the subway from New York to Brooklyn than I do walking in Perth and Northbridge at night. And that’s saying something.”

– Alina Collard

“I realised I don’t even feel safe walking alone during the day. I live in Bunbury and went for a walk yesterday and as I entered some wooded areas realised I was holding my keys in a way to use them as a weapon in the case of an attack. It may be over-reacting but it doesn’t feel safe anymore to be alone off the beaten track, even in the morning ... the area isn’t the problem, it’s the feeling of fear that something unpredictable can happen to us when walking alone.”

– Ciara Tóchar

“I feel safer walking around London, than I ever have in Perth. I don’t know if it’s because I was aware there is CCTV everywhere, or the fact people just look past you, or that there is always loads of people around, or that the streets are better lit.”

– Kristel Arundel

“As our city and suburbs become more populated our councils really should have to upgrade the silly system of having a footpath on only one side of the street. ”

– Hazel Dickinson

“I don’t even feel safe in my own home at night. I lock me and my kiddos in my bedroom and leave my car keys and wallet on the kitchen bench.”

–Ashleigh Solomon

“I don’t always feel comfortable but I’ve always felt safe. That said, I am a 5’9" bearded white dude so I’m probably not a viable target for most trouble.”

– Luke Marsden

“Yes (I feel safe), but I’m a 6'5" 120kg male. Do I think females are safe walking at night? No.”

– Mei Lewis

“I don’t even feel safe putting the bins out at night.”

– Amy Strom

“I feel safer walking by myself in Bali than here.”

– Linda Smith-ince North

“As a man I don’t even feel safe.”

– Jayden Davies-Smith

“I think some of us get a bit precious ... one thing that deters an attacker is a woman walking strong and confident with her head held high and showing no signs of fear ... having survived an attack on my own life in my own bedroom by an intruder, I know I can fight for my life ... own the night and your space ... get back in the face of someone who makes you feel threatened, as I found they are more afraid than you are.”

– Jocelyn McLennan

“Honestly felt safer in Serbia and Romania than in Perth.”

– Hela Freyja Mircea

“Had more problems in Perth in nine months than in my previous 50 years. And I am a big, older male.”

– Stephen Ermann

“I walked all around the CBD last night by myself even up to the Barracks, no problems.”

– Ali Anderson

“I’m scared to work in the city. Coming home on the train is an awful experience ... and the fact that it gets dark at 5.15-ish is now a worry.”

– Jess Jamieson

“I felt safer walking down laneways in Melbourne than walking just in my neighbourhood any time.”

– Paige Spring

“The street lighting here is far too dull and creepy, even walking in the day alone here is scary.”

– Maxine Whittick

“Feel safer in Thailand or Singapore.”

– Dame Edna Brown

“Nope, last time I was in the city at night I got spat on by an Aboriginal woman and her kid. Was just minding my own business with Pokemon Go.

– Aaron Watson

“Just the standard Perth hysteria. Of course crime does happen in Perth, but it’s nowhere near the level being implied in these comments.”

– Melanie Murray

“I’m legally blind and I walk around at night and yet I could be attacked at any time, but I don’t let that get in the way of how I live my life or how I go and do things. Yes it happens a lot to women but it happens to everybody. Why is this topic always about women? It should be about men, women, children, the elderly and disabled.”

– Robbert Fraser

“There’s a million men in Perth, bound to be a couple of dodgy ones. Don’t live your life in fear but don’t be unwise.”

– Jarred Hunt