A friend of mine who went to a self defense class sent this to me, I thought it was important enough to share with you girls.
Hugs, Malissa xoxo
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 5:00  
a.m. and 8:30  a.m.
5) The number one place women are  abducted from/attacked is grocery store
parking lots.  Number two 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 times, but you'd feel much worse if the
guy really was trouble.