Ideas For Avoiding Rape

I'll start off by saying that the following isn't my original work (came to me as an e-mail), but I found it to be important enough (an understatement!!!) to share here.

Please share it with people--especially other women--you know!!!



Subject: Rape Prevention


>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:
> > >>
> > The first thing men look for in a potential victim
> > is hairstyle.
> > They are most likely to go after a woman with a
> > ponytail, bun, braid or
> > other hairstyle that can easily be grabbed. They are
> > also likely to go
> > after a woman with long hair. Women with short hair
> > are not common
> > targets.
> > >>
> > The second thing men look for is clothing. They will
> > look for women
> > who's clothing is easy to remove quickly. Many of
> > them carry scissors
> > around to cut clothing.
> > >>
> > They also look for women on their cell phone,
> > searching through
> > their purse or doing other activities while walking
> > because they are off
> > guard
> > and can be easily overpowered. The time of day men
> > are most likely to
> > attack and rape a woman is in the early morning,
> > between 5 and 8:30 a.m.
> > The
> > number one place women are abducted from/attacked at
> > is grocery store
> > parking
> > lots.
> > Number two is office parking lots/garages. Number
> > three is public
> > restrooms.
> > The thing about these men is that they are looking
> > to grab a woman
> > and quickly move her to a second location where they
> > don't have to
> > worry about getting caught. Only 2% said they
> > carried weapons because
> > rape
> > carries a 3-5 year sentence but rape with a weapon
> > is 15-20 years.
> > >>
> > 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
> > realize that going
> > after you
> > isn't worth it because it will be time-consuming.
> > 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.
> > Several defense mechanisms he taught us are:
> > If someone is following behind you on a street or in
> > a garage or
> > with you in an elevator 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.
> > If someone is coming toward you, hold out your hands
> > in front of
> > you and yell Stop or Stay back! Most of the rapists
> > this man 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.
> > If you carry pepper spray (this instructor was a
> > huge advocate of
> > it and carries it with him wherever he goes,)
> > yelling I HAVE PEPPER
> > SPRAY
> > and holding it out will be a deterrent. If someone
> > grabs you, you can't
> > beat them with strength but you can by outsmarting
> > them. If you are
> > grabbed around the waist from behind, pinch the
> > attacker either under
> > the
> > arm between the elbow and armpit or in the upper
> > inner thigh - HARD.
> > One woman in a class this guy taught told him she
> > used the underarm
> > pinch on a guy who
> > was trying to date rape her and was so upset she
> > broke through the
> > skin and tore out muscle strands - the guy needed
> > stitches. Try pinching
> >
> > yourself in those places as hard as you can stand
> > it; it hurts.
> > After the initial hit, always go for the groin. I
> > know from a
> > particularly unfortunate experience that if you slap
> > a guy's parts it is
> >
> > extremely painful. You might think that you'll anger
> > the guy and make
> > him
> > want to hurt you more, but the thing these rapists
> > told our instructor
> > is that
> > they want a woman who will not cause a lot of
> > trouble. Start causing
> > trouble,
> > and he's out of there.
> > When the guy puts his hands up to you, grab his
> > first two fingers
> > and bend them back as far as possible with as much
> > pressure pushing down
> > on
> > them as possible. The instructor did it to me
> > without using much
> > pressure,
> > and I ended up on my knees and both knuckles cracked
> > audibly.
> > Of course the things we always hear still apply.
> > Always be aware of
> > your surroundings, take someone with you if you can
> > and if you see any
> > odd behavior, don't dismiss it, go with your
> > instincts. You may feel a
> > little silly at the time, but you'd feel much worse
> > if the guy really
> > was
> > trouble.
> > PLEASE READ THEN FORWARD THIS TO ANY WOMAN YOU KNOW,
> > IT'S SIMPLE
> > STUFF THAT COULD SAVE HER LIFE