The fact "Women got off buses and walked home at night, I walked and bicycled, life went on" does not mean there are no no-go zones by any reasonable definition.

It is about their  "their inaccessibility to government officials in times of tension", or the fact taxi drivers refuse to go there, at least at certain times, etc.

In my experience, some people use an extreme definition (no one can go in at any time) to dismiss the concept.

Few people "see a terrorist when they look at a woman wearing a headscarf", that is an exaggeration meant to dismiss all criticism.