Royal Gazette survey says.

With reports of rapes, attempted rapes and indecent assaults becoming more frequent, many women are changing their lifestyles and schedules to avoid being in the wrong place at the wrong time.

The majority of the women who took part in yesterday's poll said that they had to constantly take precautions to have peace of mind. One anonymous respondant said she resented "having to be on alert 24 hours a day'' just to go about her daily life.

She also believed that the social culture in Bermuda was partly to blame.

Bermudian men, she said, had no idea how to behave properly towards women, having never been taught.

"When strange men talk to you the way they do here, and follow you, they seem to think it's normal and fun,'' she said.

"But what they don't realise is that it's a physical threat to us. We don't know what they're going to do next. And when they do carry it further, they don't know what the problem is.'' Full story - Page 2.