That’s precisely the point. Having a fear of people who you haven’t heavily interacted with, when wandering about in public in highly trafficked spaces, is irrational, because the risks are vanishingly small. I’ve e.g. personally watched a middle aged lady cross to the other side of the street in the middle of the day to avoid walking closely past some normal looking brown-skinned high school kids wearing hoodies and baggy pants, and then cross back to the original side after they were past. On several occasions I’ve seen men switch sides with their female companions so that as they walk along the man is between the woman and some unassuming homeless person sitting on the sidewalk minding their own business. Again, on a well-trafficked street in the middle of the day. These reactions are not based on reasonable fears.

Lots of people won’t let their 10- or 12-year-old kids walk around town by themselves, because the parents are afraid they will be abducted or assaulted or something. But such tragedies are extremely rare. If anything, if they are really worried about child abuse the parents should be carefully examining their priest, sports coaches, teachers, family members, friends’ relatives, etc.

Obviously if you take the random strangers off the street and invite them to your home, have a deep personal conversation, lend them money, ask them to take care of your kids, start kissing them, or whatever your definition is for a “close interaction”, they sort of stop being strangers at that point, and you are more likely to get into some altercation.