How to avoid Personal Attacks

[Moreta]

I got this in an email from a friend and I thought it was incredibly useful so I wanted to share it with all the women on this site. It is a bit grim I know, but it could well help you out one day.


REMEMBER: Noone is completely safe. Age is not a worry to some people out there, a 10 year old can be just as vulnerable as a 20 year old, sometimes more so. There is never a good reason to take stupid risks.


Metropolitan Police Issued
This Newsletter October 2004 MUST BE READ

Through a Rapist’s Eyes

A group of rapists and date rapists in prison were interviewed on what they look for in a potential victim and here are some interesting facts:

1. The first thing men look for in a potential victim is hairstyle.  They are most likely to go after a woman with a ponytail or other hairstyle that can be easily be grabbed.  They are also likely to go after a woman with long hair.  Woman with short hair are not common targets.

2. The second thing men look for is clothing.  They will look for woman whose clothing is easy to remove quickly.  Many of them carry scissors around to cut clothing.

3. They also look for women on their mobile phone, searching through their purse or doing other activities while walking, because they are off guard and can be easily overpowered.

4. The time of day men are most likely to attack and rape a woman is in the early morning, between 05.00 and 08.30 am.

5. The thing about these men is that they are looking to grab a woman quickly mover her to a second location where they don’t have to worry about getting caught.

6. Only 2% said they carried weapons because rape carries a 3 – 5 year sentence, but rape with a weapon is 15 – 20 years.

7. If you put up any kind of a fight at all, they get discouraged because it only takes a minute or two for them to realise that going after you isn’t worth it because it will be time-consuming.

8. These men said they would not pick on women who have umbrellas, or other similar objects that can be used from a distance, in their hands.  Keys are not a deterrent because you have to get really close to the attacker to use them as a weapon.  So, the idea is to convince these guys you’re not worth it.

9. Several defence mechanisms he taught us are:  if someone is following behind you on a street or in a garage or with you in a lift or stairwell, look them in the face and ask them a question, like “what time is it?” or make general small talk, “I can’t believe it is so cold out here, we’re in for a bad winter”.  Now you’ve seen their face and could identify them in a line-up, you lose appeal as a target.

10. If someone is coming toward you, hold out your hands in front of you and yell “stop” or “STAY BACK”.  Most of the rapists talked to said they’d leave a woman alone if she yelled or showed that she would not be afraid to fight back.  Again, they are looking for an EASY target.



Try the Suzy Lamplugh Trust site

The whole trust is dedicated to the education of Personal Safety.  There are courses to attend, and online advice... including... How to choose a personal alarm, Safety whilst driving, Safety whilst at Home, Safety Out and About, Safety for Kids

AND... of course, you can buy the alarms in their shop

http://www.suzylamplugh.org/store/alarms.shtml

EG

[Jezebel]

I've seen that somewhere else and it had some good tips

Thanks for posting it.  It might be worthwhile making it sticky so it doesn't go walking off =)

[EG]

good advice there!

some of those points Ive never thought about before

[Lúthien Elanessë]

OOH! Those are VERY good ones. Thanks for posting that, Morry.

[Tehanu]

That's very useful! Thanks for posting it!
*sigh* I wish rape didn't exist and nobody needed to 'learn' these tips... I actually can't understand what some people find doing that...

[Rikku]

Good Advice there  thanx

[Waelith]

They are good tips. Also, carry a can of spray (like impulse) in your bag, because if your under attack, you can use it as a weapon of self defence, (I have managed to escape this way).

Also, if your driving alone at night, its a good idea to make sure all your car doors are locked, because attackers will try and get in your car and get to you that way, if you have to stop at traffic lights, or on a junction.

...And at the weekends, watch out for those bogus cab drivers too.

[*‡‡ T ï f a ‡‡*]

Ohhh yeah, my mum *always* goes on about them. 

Its a scary subject though. I guess on of the best things to do is to not walk home on your own..

...I like that umbrella tip though  Mwahahahahahahah..

[Elfy]

Thanks for posting this
Some of those things, I'd just never even considered them before.

Luckily I'm almost never out alone, but you never know

My sister has a rape alarm...I'd either carry one of those or some mustard gas spray stuff

[*‡‡ T ï f a ‡‡*]

Where do you get rape alarms from, anyway?

[Alasse]

Does anyone know where to get personal alarms from?

I had a scary experience a few weeks ago and could have done with one, but I haven't got a clue where to find one 

[EG]

I got given mine when I was a nurse!  hmmm not sure if it still works...

sadly, even tho they are effective to the rapist.. Im always worried that ppl take as much notice of them, as they do car alarms!

According to the police you can get them here :

Rape Alarms can be purchased from large department stores, AA shops, and Bettaware magazines.


Oh and most student's unions sell them

[Kamui]

the shop i work for sells pedometers with panic alarms built in!

i know its a little different but i was almosst mugged by a gang of drunken chavs but i had a wooden sword (bokken- i had been to a martial arts training session) and this scared them off when i held it up and actually hit one of them with it who approached me. also when my sister was in uni one of her friends got attacked and she actually managed to fend off the attacker with her shoe! (she was wearing high heels) so it just goes to show that they are scared of anyone putting up a fight

[Cuthien, Wolf-maiden]

Wow.  I never though about some of those things.  Thanks for posting them. 

[Tehanu]

I'd never heard about those rape alarms... How do they work?

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