Are women ever really safe?

“There’s always the possibility of keeping a certain distance of more than an arm’s length – that is to say to make sure yourself you don’t look to be too close to people who are not known to you, and to whom you don’t have a trusting relationship”.

This was the advice offered to women by the Mayor of Cologne, Henriette Reker, in the aftermath of the attacks which took place in the German city on New Year’s Eve, reportedly coordinated and carried out by a group of up to one thousand men.