u/Accomplished_Elk9923

I live in a major European city with some gang violence issues and frequent stabbings. I'm in the part of the city that is considered more crime prone.

Prior to this I lived in a major American city with some scattered gun and gang violence issues, as well as tons of homelessness, but I lived in a safe, nice area to be fair.

I've been walking in the dark, with earbuds in, by myself, my whole life, and it's rare for me to feel afraid beyond a general sensible alertness that one should exercise regardless of gender when you're in an obviously deprived area with lots of young male characters around. As in, I keep my head down, scan the coast for any potential threats, but otherwise enjoy my walk and listen to whatever podcast or YouTube video I'm currently on.

My chill gets to the point where I've realized sometimes men are either catcalling or just greeting me on the streets and I don't even realize because I literally can't hear.

I also just can't help but feel like I have some kind of energy that is a repellent for social attention. I usually don't look extremely put together, I dress in basics, I look blankly in front of me, I have major eastern euro face syndrome with a side of staring into the ether, and avoid eye contact. Even in frankly ghetto areas, entire groups of roaming young men seem to pay me no mind even if we're crossing paths in dimly lit areas with little foot traffic.

Anyone else have this experience? I would assume it's the norm as I regularly see other women doing the same as me, but the internet has me convinced that everyone is afraid to walk outside, that y'all are constantly in a state of high alert, and generally don't feel safe. Or is this heavily personal to each individual experience?

I was born in Russia but moved away as a teenager and haven’t lived there since. Over the past few years I’ve become interested in Ukrainian language and culture and have been learning some Ukrainian through tutoring, Duolingo, Ukrainian YouTube/TikTok content, media, etc.

I was wondering how Ukrainians generally feel about this, especially these days. I assume it’s probably noticeable that I’m originally Russian when I speak Ukrainian, since I don’t have a typical English-speaking foreign accent.

Asking out of genuine curiosity and thanks in advance for your opinions