If the person is at all reasonable, I will tell them I’m not interested. This often reveals that they truly aren’t reasonable after all, and I dodged a bullet.
Rejection is actually an excellent test for toxicity. Or even just saying I need to slow down and take some time....I tend to attract narcissists so it’s self-preservation.

Men do that as well. I politely state that I'm not interested.

It's not just women doing do. Every person I've chat with here quit without preamble. It's the way of the net, I guess.

If I've been chatting and suddenly stop, 99% of the time, it means my real life has gotten chaotic and busy, making online time a luxury that I cannot afford. Once things settle, I typically check back in. Often, I've TOLD the person before hand that I have travel or plans coming up and might be out of touch, but they often seem to forget.

You are right.

I've been verbally abused and ridiculed whenever I've politely turned a man down. Really nasty stuff.

It feels like walking on egg shells.

What???