farlanscott
New Member
I'm not a paranoid traveler, but I do travel by myself often, and I take a lot of precautions. To travel without fear, we need to be savvy. I learned these tips from a woman who recently took a self-defense class. The instructor who taught her class interviewed a group of rapists in prison and learned what they look for when scoping out a woman. Here are some interesting facts:
# The #1 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.
# 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 and number three is public restrooms. These men are looking to grab a woman and quickly move her to a second, secluded location where they don't have to worry about getting caught.
# Only 2% of the rapists interviewed said they carried weapons because rape carries a 3-5 year sentence but rape with a weapon is 15-20 years.
Therefore, 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 will not pick on women who have umbrellas, or other similar objects in their hands that can be used from a distance. 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.
# The #1 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.
# 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 and number three is public restrooms. These men are looking to grab a woman and quickly move her to a second, secluded location where they don't have to worry about getting caught.
# Only 2% of the rapists interviewed said they carried weapons because rape carries a 3-5 year sentence but rape with a weapon is 15-20 years.
Therefore, 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 will not pick on women who have umbrellas, or other similar objects in their hands that can be used from a distance. 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.