Tired of fearing the night, a group of women are going to take it back.

So is the aim of tonight's 'Take Back the Night Walk' through the City of Hamilton, the fourth annual organised by the Women's Resource Centre (WRC).

"Each year it has grown. We had 20 to 30 people on our first walk, and for the last one we had about 100 people. We are hoping to have even more people this time around," said WRC executive director and clinical supervisor Kathy Harriott.

The walk is meant to be symbolic rather than athletic. Walkers leave Albuoy's Point and follow a circular route and make their way back to the same point.

That there have been a number of similar walks this month organised by other charities didn't faze Mrs. Harriott at all.

"I think different types of supporters go for each one," she said. "I don't think it will hurt us to have the other walks around the same time."

She said many women are anxious about walking alone after dark.

"People are certainly more concerned about the violence in the community in the last couple of months," said Mrs. Harriott.

Despite that, she said women were still more likely to experience violence in the home than on the street.

"It is more likely to be someone you know than a stranger," she said. "But there are still issues of violence everywhere."

Mrs. Harriott said every news story about violence in the community ratchets up the anxiety level a little more.

"Last year there was a fight at Wellington Oval," said Mrs. Harriott. "That definitely put me on guard. Even in town at 3 p.m. in broad daylight, I am thinking, 'Wow, I wonder if you have a machete hidden somewhere?'"

She said violence in the community affects everyone.

"You always think, 'It could be me'. I think the more we read about it the more anxious we get."

Mrs. Harriott was speaking shortly after finishing up at an open house at her organisation's headquarters above the Music Box, on Church Street.

"We had a pretty steady flow of people through," she said. "We were never really crowded. But I was pretty pleased at the numbers. We had between 30 and 40 people. I hope we picked up people for the walk. We gave people the flyers."

One walker, Leonie Dill, who works in the Bermuda College bookstore, said this was the second time she was participating in the WRC event.

A former volunteer with the Physical Abuse Centre, she said: "I wanted to give back to the community. I am taking part for my health and also for safety reasons. Women are preyed upon walking in the night."

She said she often felt nervous about going for a walk by herself at night.

"I usually go with a girlfriend," Ms Dill said. "I do feel resentful sometimes. I am very independent. I am single. We should feel comfortable about going anywhere. Sometimes I might do it by myself, but I have to keep in mind safety. I know I shouldn't walk by myself."

She said she would like to see a greater Police presence, particularly in areas which are heavily trafficked by evening walkers and joggers. "There should be safe zones set up," she said. "You could put up a 'safe zone' sign the way they put up school zone signs. It would tell anyone with bad intentions that they are being watched."

She is currently trying to get more women to support the Take Back The Night Walk.

"I am trying to get a few girlfriends together," she said. "I just went out and did it on my own last year. I know a lot of people are busy. It is not a difficult walk."

There is no registration required for the walk, walkers just need to show up.

"We would just like people to come out for 7 p.m. and walk with us. We are going from Albuoy's Point to King Street, along Church Street and back to Albuoy's. It is not really a fitness walk, it is a symbolic walk. I doubt if it would take more than 45 minutes."

Lucy Attride-Stirling, of Amnesty International, will give a brief introduction before the start of the walk. And there will be a letter participants can sign to help women who work in clothing factories in Mexico.

"These women are in Ciudad Juarez, Chihuahua, Mexico," said Mrs. Harriott. "It is the maquiladora industry. They produce cheap clothing for the North American market. Women are often attacked, raped, or disappear on the way to the factories."