Personal Safety 3
Hints For Protecting Yourself.
I have to share some things I have learned in my job with you.
In my job, I review criminal and psychiatric files
of imprisoned sex offenders who are approaching
their release date.
I decide if they are likely to re-offend
based on certain criteria and then civilly commit
them to a sex offender treatment facility,
if I decide that they are at significant risk
to re-offend.
I have read hundreds and hundreds of files,
and have taken note of some of the mistakes women make.
Let me preface this by saying that a woman is
NEVER EVER EVER
at fault for being raped or attacked,
but there are definitely ways to reduce your risk
of being a victim.
Here are the most common mistakes women make
that could result in them getting kidnapped,
attacked, and/or raped:
1. GETTING INTO THE ATTACKERS CAR
When he pulls a gun and orders you to get into his vehicle.
Most attackers don't want to shoot you
they want you to get into the car so
that they can drive you to a deserted place and torture you.
Don't comply. Run screaming.
It is MUCH more likely than not that
he will just move on to an easier target.
2. PULLING OVER WHEN A MAN DRIVES ALONGSIDE
He's pointing at your car pretending something is wrong.
If this happens, drive to the nearest well-lit
and populated gas station and look the car over yourself
(or ask an attendant).
Never pull over.
Believe it or not, many women have fallen
for this for fear of their car spontaneously
exploding in the middle of the road.
Not likely.
3. NOT LOCKING YOUR DOORS WHILE DRIVING.
I have read several cases where the attacker
simply walks up to a woman's car while
she's at a traffic light and jumps in
with his gun or knife drawn.
4. OPENING YOUR FRONT DOOR WHEN YOU
HAVE NOT POSITIVELY IDENTIFIED WHO IS THERE.
If you don't have a peep hole, get one.
I've seen countless cases where the attacker
gains access to his victims simply
by knocking on their door.
Don't let an attacker get into your home.
He then has a private, relatively soundproof place
to attack you.
5. NOT BEING ALERT IN PARKING LOTS.
If you go to the grocery store at night,
don't be shy about asking for an escort to your car.
Too many women are abducted from parking lots
or even raped in the parking lot.
Look in your back seat before entering your car.
Cars provide endless hiding places for attackers,
both inside them and in between them.
Be aware of your surroundings by looking
to the left and right and behind you
with your head up all the time.
You may appear paranoid and look funny to others,
but an attacker will think twice
about approaching someone who appears
so aware of what's going on.
6. TRUSTING A CLEAN CUT,
HONEST LOOKING STRANGER.
I see mug shots of every sex offender
in the state of Florida.
They do not look like monsters.
They often look like they could be
your friendly grocer, bank teller,
waiter, neighbor, clergy, doctor, etc.
They are every age between 15 and 90, and probably beyond.
Only a small minority actually look scary.
I just read a case yesterday of a man
with only one leg who beat up his victim
with his crutch before he raped her.
Who would have ever thought that a
one-legged man could be a rapist?
7. TRUSTING PEOPLE TO BE ALONE
WITH YOUR CHILDREN.
This is a difficult one,
because child molesters end up being the LAST person
the parents would believe is the molester.
Most of the child molesting cases I see
involve the stepfather, the uncle,
the sister's boyfriend, the mother's boyfriend,
the grandfather, the babysitter, the neighbor,
the family friend, the youth camp director,
day care worker, etc.
Although rare, even women can be molesters.
In every case, the perpetrator is a nice guy,
trusting, good with children,
and the family is baffled or
even in disbelief that the person
could be abusing their child.
When it comes to your children and grandchildren,
be suspicious of everyone, no matter who they are.
And pay attention to what your child says
and how he/she reacts to the mention of
different people in their lives.
I didn't mean to make anyone uncomfortable with this,
but I am at work right now reviewing files,
and realized that this email is a way I can reach
many women at one time.
I have the dirty job of reading all these files,
and it makes me feel good to know that
I can share some inferences from what I have learned.
This is not an exhaustive list of what not to do,
but just some things that I have observed
more than just a few times.
PASS THIS ON TO THE WOMEN IN YOUR LIVES.
