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 purseor 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, face 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 itand 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 out smarting 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. He'll likely end up on his knees.
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.
