Shortest day of the year 2022

Foxes darting across my path and the glittering city lights spur me on. Women shouldn't have to live in fear, says Emma Snaith, the Guardian's deputy ...

It comes after the interim [Casey report](https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2022/oct/16/sack-sexist-and-racist-officers-met-police-report-rules) into racism, misogyny and homophobia in the Met police found that the force had allowed too many “abhorrent” officers to stay in its ranks. Then there are the grimly similar cases of women being murdered, in public, by men: [Zara Aleena](https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2022/dec/14/zara-aleena-murder-jordan-mcsweeney-sentenced-life-in-prison), [Sabina Nessa](https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2022/apr/08/koci-selamaj-jailed-sabina-nessa-murder), [Sarah Everard](https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/sarah-everard), [Nicole Smallman, Bibaa Henry](https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2021/dec/06/two-met-police-officers-jailed-photos-murdered-sisters-deniz-jaffer-jamie-lewis-nicole-smallman-bibaa-henry) and [Libby Squire](https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2021/feb/11/man-pawel-relowicz-found-guilty-hull-student-libby-squire), to name a few. Women can hardly be expected to stop running outside at night and in the day, to avoid city streets and quieter rural areas. It feels like little has changed since the [Yorkshire Ripper murders](https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/qlvQwnP532BZrlY0jshqd7/how-a-serial-killer-inspired-a-feminist-movement) in the 1970s when, after two years of killings, police told women to stay out of public spaces after dark. [“not to go out alone”](https://www.mylondon.news/news/south-london-news/sarah-everard-missing-women-clapham-19992681). Yes, there’s the treadmill at the gym, but that requires a pricey membership and is no replacement for getting out in the fresh air and nature. I’m lucky that there are plenty of well-lit streets I can run around in my area of London – a luxury not available to women in rural areas. After the murder of Sarah Everard, police advised women in Clapham It was born out of necessity, but over time I came to love the sensation of running at night. But why is the onus always on women to alter our behaviour? When I started getting into running a couple of years ago, it was often in the dark. Then there’s the joy of seeing a fox dart out in front of me, sprinting past a bustling pub or seeing the twinkling lights of the city along the Thames Path.