Learn self-defense. Gather information. Be slightly suspicious. Act confident. Scream when necessary. Trust your gut.

These are some of the ways, female travelers tell us, they ensure their safety when traveling, especially alone.

If this partial list sounds a little paranoid, it’s meant to. Many of these women have gotten into scrapes on the road. It’s not just because most are world travelers whose love of new places takes them to sometimes iffy destinations. One was attacked in broad daylight two blocks from her home in a “nice neighborhood.”

They take steps to fend off trouble, creating “escape hatches,” especially when traveling alone.

HERE ARE their tips:

>> Be physically ready. Katherine Harmon, senior director of category intelligence for WorldAware, a travel intelligence and risk assessment company, has long practiced martial arts. Marybeth Bond, who lives in the Bay Area and is an author (her blog is GutsyTraveler.com) and writer for National Geographic, has taken a self-defense class.

>> Act confident. You may not feel confident, so call on your acting chops. Look your aggressor in the eye, Bond said. Walk with purpose, she said, with your chin up.

>> Research cultural norms. Catherine Watson, an author and travel writer from Minnesota, studies everyday life in her destination by reading and asking questions. “And then adhere to (the norms),” she said in an email. Flouting them isn’t brave; it may be sending an unintended message. Sometimes, having a guide will deflect that; check with tourism offices or with such organizations as ToursByLocals.com.

>> Don’t settle, especially when it’s a safety issue. Ask for what you want and what you need in every endeavor. “Travel with a strong will,” Susan Spano, formerly a travel writer for the Los Angeles Times. “Don’t let them give you the worst table or room just because you’re a single female” — especially if it’s in a questionable location.

Here’s what Julie D. Taylor of West Hollywood does to prevent such situations: “I have often been given rooms at the end of a corridor, once even behind a fire door. I immediately request a different room.”

>> Don’t stand out. Women should dress to be ignored when they travel. “You wouldn’t want to land in India with a suitcase filled with tank tops and shorts,” said Ellie Shapiro of Los Angeles, who has traveled extensively in the subcontinent. “Know what is appropriate so you will fit right in.”

>> Scream. “There is power in verbal strength,” Bond said. Once, in India, a man began speaking inappropriately to her. “I started to scream,” she said. “I told him, ‘Don’t you talk dirty to me!’ This was in a crowd and he stopped.”

>> Don’t signal that you are a stranger. Michelle Rodriguez, founder of 360viewpr.com in Los Angeles, avoids looking at maps of any kind when she’s on the street. “I step into a coffee shop, a museum, store, restroom to look at my phone map,” she said in an email.

>> Look for allies. A hotel concierge who knows the area may be one, Shapiro said.

They also may be other women. “If you’re — riding (local transport) at night in rural Honduras comes to mind — get near other women,” Watson said.

>> Beware mind-altering substances. You don’t want to get “roofied” — that is, drink a cocktail that’s been laced with Rohypnol or other disabling pharmaceutical. For that reason, Melissa McGibbon, a travel writer from Utah, buys her own drinks and is judicious in consumption, she said in an email.

>> Trust your instincts. “If I get a gut feeling that something is off, I just leave the area/situation immediately,” McGibbon said.

When it comes to your safety, don’t shy away from doing what you need to for fear of offending someone.