safety

Two friends/co-workers were attacked by a group of skinheads (or skinhedsi in Serbian) on election night. One was pushed down a flight of stairs in a pedestrian passage I walk through almost everyday.

And what makes this so scary to me is that the attack was targetted. My friend M was recognized as a Women in Black activist & one of the attackers yelled, 'because of you, I have a criminal record.'

I am used to dealing with random violence -- I had a moment on a dark street in Portland a few weeks ago that was scarier than anything I have experienced in Belgrade -- but how does one protect oneself from people who are out to get you?

People are suggesting that we vary our routines (not that those attacked were doing something routine). But how far can or should one go to keep oneself safe? I've been working on a security manual for my volunteer program & the recent victims didn't do anything against our safety rules. I don't know whether to go crazy vigilant or give up.

I'm sure I'll land somewhere in the middle.