A Manchester woman studying in Liverpool has been left in a state of paranoia following two violent attacks while on nights out in the city centre.
Delphie Levy Jones, 20, was punched by a man in a city centre club after confronting him for attacking her friend on November 25.
The attack on her coincided with the same day 12-year-old Ava White was killed and a 47-year-old Malak Adabzadeh, also known as Katy, died as a result of "head trauma" in the city.
The spate of incidents prompted Delphie to write a blog post about violence against women, the Liverpool Echo reports.
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Sadly, the November 25 assault was not the first time Delphie had been attacked in the city she calls her "safe space".
While waiting for a taxi outside Nabzy's on Hardman Street after "a really nice night" in a seated nightclub on September 27, 2020, Delphie and two friends were approached by three men she estimates were in their 30s.
"At first it was all quite friendly, I suppose, but you know when you're kind of trying to be friendly to avoid things going nasty?," Final year English and Media student Delphie said.
"They were being very flirty, and it wasn't in a nice way."
The "unsolicited attention" progressed to physical contact, prompting fears about Covid-19 as the men's arms wrapped around them.
"It's horrible. Obviously you feel uncomfortable and tense," she added. "But I think for a girl on a night out, everyone is so used to it, and it's just, horribly, something you expect to put up with when you go out.
"So it's nothing unfamiliar. It's just like, 'Ugh, here we go again'. But it never makes it any easier to deal with."
Delphie said she and her friends asked the men to stop touching them.
After the men initially moved away, they started chucking 'bark', from beneath trees at the side of Hardman Street, at the three young women, Delphie said.
Confused, the woman asked them to stop.
The University of Liverpool student continued: "That turned into a verbal confrontation and everyone started shouting.
"I think it just escalated from there. We were all shouting at each other. They started to push us.
"They got closer again, so the bark actually got in my eye, scratched my eye and knocked my earring out when they chucked it at my face.
"I can't remember what order it happened in because it's such a blur, but at one point, my back was turned, so obviously I was trying to get away from the situation.
"And I just remember getting kicked to the floor in my back.
"It really winded me. I remember not being able to breathe for a little bit."
One of Delphie's friends flagged down a passing police car, begging for help.
But despite wanting to file a report, matters were complicated because Delphie had kicked one of the men, and he was claiming he'd been assaulted by her, she said.
Delphie said that police told her that they would have to arrest her too if they were to arrest him, so she reluctantly backed down.
"I was so infuriated. I was so angry, because as a woman, already, a lot of women won't resort to this kind of self-defence or violence," Delphie said. "I felt like I had protected myself because I'd hurt him. And I felt like, 'Oh, that makes me feel great, I feel powerful'.
"Then it felt like the police had come and just stripped that power from me.
"Because, if I'm not even allowed to self-defend without my arrest being threatened, what can I do in future?
"I don't want to get arrested, but I don't want to feel helpless in these situations either."
Her shattered faith in police meant Delphie didn't consider seeking their help the next time she was attacked in Liverpool city centre on Thursday, November 25, 2021.
As she and a friend walked to the courtyard of a club, they crossed paths with a "tall, tall, six foot something guy" blocking the door.
Delphie said that, her friend told the man to stop shoving her, he followed them outside where he attacked her.
"He grabbed her arm to turn her around. And she had horrible fingertip bruise marks afterwards from how hard he gripped her," Delphie explained. "I just remember watching him, punch her to the floor, in the head."
Furious at what she'd just seen, Delphie said she pushed the guy back, shouting at him: "What have you just done?"
"The next thing I remember is me being punched in the head.
"Then all these bouncers came around and people split us up, so he wasn't a threat anymore.
"But my best friend was just hysterical. It was awful, for her more so than me."
Women already know this, so Delphie wants men "to be aware that this is happening every single day".
"I want them to know how afraid we feel and how unsafe we feel going out," she said. "I want them to actively tell their friends and be aware of it, and try and help."
The ECHO put Delphie's claims to Merseyside Police.
Liverpool community policing Superintendent Diane Pownall replied: "Violence and Intimidation against women and girls is one of the key priorities for the Chief Constable and Merseyside Police as a whole and we will continue to do everything we can to actively address any fears about violence, and work towards eradicating abuse against women and girls.
"We have worked constantly alongside our partners including local authorities, support agencies and the third sector to protect women and girls and together we have introduced a number of initiatives to address issues of violence with the ultimate aim of making our streets safer for them.
"In April this year, we launched our proactive policing response, Operation Empower, which is aimed at preventing sexual violence within the city centre and town centres, where officers are deployed into hotspot night-time economy (NTE) locations and are briefed to look for predatory type behaviour towards women and girls.
"We know that this is an issue that cannot be resolved by the police alone and we will continue to work together to drive changes in behaviour so that women and girls can feel confident about going about their lives without fear of physical or mental abuse, harassment or violence.
"If someone experiences violence or abuse they should be confident to report it to us. We are here to help.
"We will support and work with women and girls who are subjected to stalking or harassment, violence, domestic abuse, or any other crimes based on their gender, so we can identify offenders and put them before the courts."
For women who have felt or feel unsafe in public spaces, the Home Office has set up a pilot service ( StreetSafe | Police.uk (www.police.uk ) for anyone to anonymously report public places where they have felt or feel unsafe, because of environmental issues, eg street lighting, abandoned buildings or vandalism and/or because of some behaviours, eg being followed or verbally abused.
Please note: 'StreetSafe' is not for reporting crime or incidents.
If something has happened to you or someone you know (including in public spaces online) you can call police on 101 or find out what online reporting services are available at StreetSafe | Police.uk (www.police.uk)
