Pauline:

Thanks for your willingness to come forward with this unhappy, outrageous event. It happens to a lot of folk, and it happens to big strong men, too.

Although it is not always possible, walking with or near other people is a form of defense as well.

In 1982 there was a broadcast, as a work of art, from the Edinboro Festival, of a solitary woman's impressions: "Steps behind me, steps getting closer...steps catching up, the WOMAN behind me - the relief ... steps behind me, steps getting close, the MAN behind me - the attack."
Made an impression on me.
For what it's worth, if I'm on the street in the evening and there is a single woman also on the street, I also try to either keep my distance, make non-stealthy type noise, or get quickly ahead of her if I can do that without being a source of alarm.