How to protect yourself from becoming a victim….

This is important information for females of ALL ages.

When this was sent to me, I was told to forward it to my lady friends,
but I forwarded it to most everyone in my address book. My men friends
have female friends and this information is too important to miss
someone.

Please pass it along.

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
whose 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
5:00 a.m. and 8:30 a.m.

5) The number one place women are abducted from/attacked is grocery
store parking lots. Number two: Are office parking lots/garages. Number
three: Are 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.

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.

1. Tip from Tae Kwon Do: The elbow is the strongest point on your body.
If you are close enough to use it, do!

2. Learned this from a tourist guide in New Orleans. If a robber asks
for your wallet and/or purse, DO NOT HAND IT TO HIM. Toss it away from
you….chances are that he is more interested in your wallet and/or
purse than you, and he will go for the wallet/purse. RUN LIKE MAD IN THE
OTHER DIRECTION!

3. If you are ever thrown into the trunk of a car, kick out the back
tail lights and stick your arm out the hole and start waving like crazy.
The driver won’t see you, but everybody else will. This has saved lives.

4. Women have a tendency to get into their cars after shopping, eating,
working, etc., and just sit (doing their checkbook, or making a list,
etc.) DON’T DO THIS! The predator will be watching you, and this is the
perfect opportunity for him to get in on the passenger side, put a gun
to your head, and tell you where to go. AS SOON AS YOU GET INTO YOUR
CAR, LOCK THE DOORS AND LEAVE.

a. If someone is in the car with a gun to your head DO NOT DRIVE OFF,
repeat: DO NOT DRIVE OFF! Instead gun the engine and speed into
anything, wrecking the car. Your Air Bag will save you. If the person is
in the back seat they will get the worst of it. As soon as the car
crashes bail out and run. It is better than having them find your body
in a remote location.

5. A few notes about getting into your car in a parking lot or parking
garage:

A.) Be aware: look around you, look into your car, at the passenger side
floor, and in the back seat.

B.) If you are parked next to a big van, enter your car from the
passenger door. Most serial killers attack their victims by pulling
them into their vans while the women are attempting to get into their
cars.

C.) Look at the car parked on the driver’s side of your vehicle, and the
passenger side. If a male is sitting alone in the seat nearest your car,
you may want to walk back into the mall, or work, and get a
guard/policeman to walk you back out.

IT IS ALWAYS BETTER TO BE SAFE THAN SORRY. (And better paranoid than
dead.)

6. ALWAYS take the elevator instead of the stairs. (Stairwells are
horrible places to be alone and the perfect crime spot. This is
especially true at NIGHT!)

7. If the predator has a gun and you are not under his control, ALWAYS
RUN! The predator will only hit you (a running target) 4 in 100 times.
And even then, it most likely WILL NOT be a vital organ. RUN, preferably
in a zigzag pattern!

8. As women, we are always trying to be sympathetic:STOP! It may get you
raped or killed. Ted Bundy, the serial killer, was a good-looking,
well-educated man, who ALWAYS played on the sympathies of unsuspecting
women. He walked with a cane, or a limp, and often asked ‘for help’ into
his vehicle or with his vehicle, which is when he abducted his next
victim.

9. Another Safety Point: Someone just told me that her friend heard a
crying baby on her porch the night before last, and she called the
police because it was late and she thought it was weird. The police told
her ‘Whatever you do, DO NOT open the door.’

The lady then said that it sounded like the baby had crawled near a
window, and she was worried that it would crawl to the street and get
run over. The policeman said, ‘We already have a unit on the way,
whatever you do, DO NOT open the door.’ He told her that they think a
serial killer has a baby’s cry recorded and uses it to coax women out of
their homes thinking that someone dropped off a baby. He said they have
not verified it, but have had several calls by women saying that they
hear baby’s cries outside their doors when they’re home alone at night.

Please pass this on and DO NOT open the door for a crying baby —-This
should be taken seriously because the Crying Baby theory was mentioned
on America’s Most Wanted this past Saturday when they profiled the
serial killer in Louisiana.

I’d like you to forward this to all the women you know. It may save a
life. A candle is not dimmed by lighting another candle. I was going to
send this to the ladies only, but guys, if you love your mothers, wives,
sisters, daughters, etc., you may want to pass it on to them as well.

V/R

//SIGNED//
KELLY L. SCHELL, MSgt, USAF
First Sergeant, 23 AF