The murder of 22-year-old Mia Skadhauge Stevn has shaken the whole of Denmark.
It is rare that a city trip ends as terribly tragic as it did for the North Jutland nursing student, but it is unfortunately often that young girls are scared if they go home alone.
It tells a number of famous young women that Ekstra Bladet has been in contact with.
Each of them has a series of precautions that they take if they move around alone when it is dark.
– If you ask me if I’m scared, if I go home alone, I feel like saying no. But I know with myself that I do some things because I do not feel safe. I have noticed this myself, says the youtuber Julia Sofia Aastrup, who in 2017 participated in ‘Wild with dance’.
For example, she always blows her hair out when she’s on her way home so no one can come from behind and grab her ponytail.
– Then there is the trick with the key between the fingers, so you can defend yourself. I use that too. And I always have leggings in my bag, so I don’t just have legs on the way home, she says.
In addition, she is always in contact with her mother, who wants to make sure she gets home well.
– Do you in any way feel like a kind of surveillance?
– Not at all. It is wonderfully safe, says Julia Sofia Aastrup.
– I’m talking to my boy friends and my little brother about this, and several of them have started crossing the road if they meet a woman alone when it’s dark. They do not want to make her uneasy, says Julia Sofia Aastrup. Photo: Tariq Mikkel Khan
Unsafe every time
22-year-old Stephanie Siguenza is newlyweds and rarely goes out alone.
– But when it happens, I’m insecure every time, she says without hesitation.
– I keep a close eye on who walks past me, and now here where it’s cold and people are wearing hats, it can be hard to see their faces. I always turn around to see if the person is following me, she says.
If Stephanie Siguenza is out, she is most often picked up. Her mother-in-law insists on that.
– When I have to go to the place I need to be picked up, I always have my hand in my pocket and stick a key between my fingers so I am ready to defend myself. I think all girls do, she says.
When the ‘Year 0’ star was younger, she had an alarm in her bag and always pretended she was talking on the phone when walking on a dark street.
Keeps an eye on the app
Flora Ofelia Hofmann Lindahl, who is currently in the film ‘You who are in heaven’ does not like to go home alone at night. Therefore, she and her friends have made a rule that no one goes home from party alone.
– Sometimes I may walk the last 400 meters myself, but then we have an agreement that you write when you are completely at home, says the young actor and high school student.
– Even though we are several friends who are followed, I can still be a little insecure if it is three o’clock at night, says 16-year-old Flora Ofelia Hofmann Lindahl.
In her family, they also have an agreement to keep a close eye on each other.
– We have an app so we can always see where each other is. That, I think, is a great reassurance. If something happens one day – which is unlikely – they can find me. We do not use the app to monitor each other, but instead of calling, we can check where each other is, she says and emphasizes that everyone in the family is fine with the app.
Practical shoes and sms group
Eurovision winner Emmelie de Forest has starred in the film ‘Text Me When You Get Home’ and she never goes home alone.
– I always take a taxi. You should be able to go home without thinking about it, that’s just not the case, she says.
Before Emmelie de Forest goes out, she always prepares for the trip home.
– I usually have practical shoes with me, which I change into, so I can run fast if I need to. High shoes or boots attract attention – both in appearance and sound, says the 28-year-old singer.
– A large jacket is also a good idea, and then I have a small hair spray in the bag or a scratch dry shampoo that I can defend myself with, says Emmelie de Forest.
When she is out with her friends, they have an SMS group, so that they make sure that everyone comes home well, and otherwise she calls or facets with her mother or her boyfriend.
– I do not know any woman where this does not fill for them. It’s really sad that it’s like that, she says.
