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Last week, an Australian woman was brutally raped and murdered as she walked home in the suburbs of Melbourne. Eurydice Dixon was a 22-year-old comedian who had just finished a successful gig, and was walking home alone on Tuesday night. Her body was found in a park at around 2am, only hundreds of metres away from her home.
She reportedly messaged a friend that she was "almost home safe" while on her way before the incident happened. The story caught the attention of the worldwide media following the controversial response from authorities.
Australian police issued a warning, urging young women to "take responsibility for your safety" and to "be aware of your surroundings". Understandably, it caused outrage, with many people criticising the authorities' response to the incident as victim-blaming.
One woman decided to take to Twitter to share a story that many people could relate to, using the #EurydiceDixon hashtag to raise awareness of how common it is for women to feel unsafe when alone at night. She brought to attention the "instinct" many women get when they find themselves in a potentially dangerous situation, as well as pointing out that taking "responsibility" for your own safety is a redundant notion when it's really out of your control.
Most women are street smart and can feel when a situation reeks of danger, or if a particular individual is acting creepily. We know the tactics like getting our keys out to indicate that we're nearly home, or pretending to speak to a friend if they don't pick up the phone. But as the Twitter user points out, no matter how vigilant and aware of a situation you are, there's sometimes little you can do to control it.
Her thread attracted a lot of attention with many people sharing the post and stories of their own scary encounters. It's terrible to see how many women have experienced the same kind of thing, which makes it especially shocking that women are told to "be aware of your surroundings" as if that is all that this issue comes down to.
Following Dixon's murder, a 19-year-old man, Jaymes Todd, handed himself in to police. He was charged the next day with her rape and murder, with police reporting that he did not know her and that it was a random attack.