AOG - "andy-hughes
/// That's not comparable behaviour is it? ///
/// Any man following a woman alone at night is not behaving in the way that men as a gender behave, so that really doesn't fly as an example. ///
Look Andy is it not possible that the man just happens to be walking home from a venue, just as the woman is, they both live in the same direction, but the man left a little later than the woman, hence the reason he is behind the woman and not following her intentionally?"
It appears you are determined to defend this scenario, so let's make sure we are talking about the same thing.
Of course, it is perfectly possible for a man to follow a woman and behave in a completely innocent way. The first thing would be to keep an appropriate distance from the woman in front. The second thing would be to avoid eye contact if she turns round - in my case, I would cross the road to ensure that she was aware that I was not threat. It would be nice not to have to confirm non-verbally that a man is no threat to a woman, but in current times, it is sometimes necessary to do so.
"Taking the assumption already mentioned that all men are potential rapists, then it is reasonable to assume that the woman would think that the man was following her, with evil intentions on his mind."
I don't believe that assumption has been made - SP1814 asked Naomi if she thought that all men were potential rapists, which is not the same as stating an assumption either that they are, or that all women think that they are. So no, it is not reasonable for a woman to asssume that a man following her has evil intentions on his mind.