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,
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.
2) 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 specifically to cut clothing.
3) 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.
4) Men are most likely to attack & rape in the early morning, between
5:00a.m. and 8:30a.m.
5) The number one place women are abducted from/attacked is grocery store
parking lots . Number two is office parking lots/garages.
Number three is public restrooms.
6) The thing about these men is that they are looking to grab a woman and
quickly move her to another location where they don't have to worry
about getting caught.
7) Only 2% said they carried weapons because rape carries a 3-5 year sentence
but rape with a weapon is 15-20 years.
8) 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 .
9) 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.
10) 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.
11) 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.
12) If you carry pepper spray (this instructor was a huge
advocate of it and carries it with him wherever he goes,) yell I HAVE
PEPPER SPRAY and holding it out will be a deterrent.
13) 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
VERY VERY 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.
14)
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.
15) 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.
16) 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.