Quote Originally Posted by kestral View Post
Uncle joe, you seem like a nice man, as do most men on white blaze. I have ptsd issues. These are not imagined, they are the result of real experiences which have been devastating. I am pretty happy and friendly while out traveling and hiking. I try to enjoy life, and not let my history dictate a reclusive existence. Statistically, many more than 1 in 1000 men are criminals, many violent. I have met more than 1000 men while hiking over many years. I would rather be perceived as a bitch than an easy target. Im sorry if I seem stand offish, it is self defense.
Please dont interpret this as being unsympathetic to your past trauma, Im not.

Just playing with #s.

in 2016 FBi statitistics report violent crime as 386 per 100,000 people. Not all these are against women, but we will assume here.
Lets be real, hiking, you have nothing worth stealing that warrants violence. Rape and murder is all anyone would be reasonably concerned with.

Of that, 9% was rape or murder. Thats 38 per 100,000 people. Since half those people are men we can say 38 per 50,000 men.

But only 28% are by strangers, the rest are by people the victim knew. Assuming you dont hike with ex boyfriends, relatives, or spouses, the rate would be 10.6 per 50,000 men. Thats 2 rapists/murderers per 10,000 men assuming no repeat offenders. And most are career violent criminals and repeat offenders. In reality, its less than 1/10,000 men you are worried about.