People living on Vancouver West Side are talking with their children about "stranger danger" after a possible abduction attempt this week – the third attack on a girl in the neighbourhood this year.
Fiona, 17, told CTV News she won't be walking alone anymore after the most recent incident.
"I think girls probably shouldn't go out at night," she said.
Two days ago, a 13-year-old girl was walking along West 61st Avenue when a teenage boy grabbed her from behind. Police believe he's about 16 years old.
"She screamed and fought with him, and even apparently attempted to dial 911 as this was taking place," Const. Jana McGuinness told CTV News.
This was the third time a young girl has been attacked on the West Side since the beginning of the year.
In January, a 9-year-old was sexually assaulted after a teenager approached her at Arbutus Square Mall and convinced her to go with him to a park nearby.
And in February, a 16-year-old girl leaving Point Grey Secondary was grabbed from behind -- she was able to break free and escape.
In all three cases, teenaged boys are accused of attacking the girls.
Ray Corrado, a criminologist at Simon Fraser University, said there could be several motivations for these types of crimes.
"It can be an expression of anger, it can be an expression of a desire to dominate, it can be part of a deviant sexual fantasy," he told CTV News.
Whatever the reason, parents in the neighbourhood said they're frightened, and they're having some serious conversations with their children.
One mother said she told her daughter, "Be in a group, be with someone else -- don't be by herself, and let me know where she is all the time. It's pretty scary."
With a report from CTV British Columbia's Renu Bakshi
