Walking home alone at night: practical habits

Before you leave

• Plan your route before you go: the way home, the time of the last bus or train, and a plan B (taxi, ride-hailing, a friend who can pick you up).
• Charge your phone. An almost empty battery is the first weak point of a late journey home. A small power bank in your bag solves it.
• Tell someone. A message such as "leaving now, home around 11:30 pm" is enough. Agree on a message when you arrive.
• Choose lit, busy streets, even if the route is a little longer.

On the way

• Stay aware of your surroundings: one earbud or low volume, phone put away while you walk.
• Have your keys in hand as you get close to home, so you are not searching for them at the door.
• On public transport, sit near the driver or in an occupied carriage. In France, several bus networks let you get off between two stops in the evening to be closer to home: check with yours.
• In a taxi or ride-hailing car, check the plate and the driver's name before getting in, and share your trip with someone if the app allows it.

If you feel followed

• Cross the street or change direction to check. If the person does the same, do not go home: you would be showing them where you live.
• Go into an open, lit place: a bar, restaurant, pharmacy or hotel lobby. Simply explain the situation.
• Call someone and say out loud where you are.
• In danger, call 17 or 112. If you cannot speak without putting yourself at risk, text 114: designed for deaf and hard-of-hearing people, it also takes messages from people who cannot speak out loud. Give the most precise address you can.

Numbers to know in France

The French government keeps the list of emergency and helpline numbers up to date (in French).

What an app can add

A safety app replaces none of these habits. What it can do is shorten the time between "something is wrong" and "the people close to me know".

With Five Angels, one swipe of the slider alerts up to five people you have chosen in advance: they receive your real-time location and the video and audio sequences recorded during the alert. For a specific journey, Preventive mode listens to the sound around you for the length of time you choose, and triggers the alert if the artificial intelligence detects a scream or a call for help, or if you do not confirm you are safe at the end. Calling 112 and texting 114 remain available from the app.

For an alert to be useful, the right people still have to receive it: see Choosing your guardian angels and briefing them.