I posted this in LA and it was suggested by a Lady that it go on this board as well. It does appear to be worthwhile to read and heed. Be careful!

"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 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) 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.

5) The number one place women are abducted from/attacked at 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 a second 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,) yelling 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 -- 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."

PLEASE READ, THEN FORWARD THIS TO EVERY WOMAN YOU KNOW, IT'S SIMPLE STUFF, BUT IT COULD SAVE HER LIFE!!!!

Since this post happens to fall within my area of expertise I can't help but adding my twelve cents worth:

Pepper spray is the deterrant that I recommend to all; be they male or female! Although I've often heard ladies comment that "it will be taken away and used against me" it remains better than nothing at all.

There is something called the force continuum and it progresses  from nonlethal means such as batons, sticks, Tasers and pepper spray through lethal onces such as edged weapons and firearms. Without the willingness to use whatever means are at hand for defense no weapon will work. The more lethal a means are the higher are our inner barriers to using them.

Pepper spray is non-lethal and does not cause permanent damage yet will stop most attackers or at least slow them down enough in order to let one escape. On a side note, if you carry pepper spray be aware that you will always get at least a little effect from it's use. So after purchasing the spray go outside on a windstill day (very important!), spray some away from you at face level and very carefully move into the outside of the cloud to give yourself a weak taste of it's effects. If you have any history of asthma or respiratory problems DO NOT buy or use pepper spray.

Predators (both sexual and robbers) in the urban jungle are no different from those in the animal kingdom and will always go for the weakest in the crowd. If a potential victim looks or acts with just a bit of situational awareness that is usually sufficient for the predator to look elsewhere for easier prey.

I firmly believe in using and practicing a modified version of Col. Jeff Cooper's color code system, with one color added in. This type of approach to situational awareness has saved uncounted numbers of victims from robbery, rape and death.

The degrees of awareness are broken down into the following colors:

White - 90% and more of people live in this color mode all the time. Unaware of surroundings, thinking of other things, head-in-the-clouds.

Yellow - General awareness. This is the recommended condition to be in. Aware of surroundings, alert. There is no specific or non-specific threat but you know that one might pop up.

Orange - There is some specific threat that heightens your awareness. You have a feeling of "there's something not quite right here" and you realize that you are most likely in an abnormal situation.

Red - The threat is now real an unavoidable. If Orange didn't trigger the hormone dump it is triggered now. You must make the fight or flight decision [usually this will not be a conscious one].

Black - Combat or fight. Sensation of time and movement is usually distorted.

This is an escalating scale and one cannot skip a step in the progression. That is why so many people who walk around in condition white tell the police afterwards "I had no idea he was there until it was too late..." or "they came out of nowhere...". If they had been in condition yellow they would have noticed that group of people hanging around the light in the parking lot or that guy on the other side of the street following their every move or that person that doesn't quite fit into the commuting crowd. Condition yellow means looking in the rear-view mirror occasionally and if you think that car has been there too long take 3 right turns and see if they remain behind you. Condition yellow means (especially incall providers going home) to vary the schedule and route randomly.

-Shiro.

Some good advice there, but also a lot of falsehoods.  Check out this link for more info--

Well said, I too have extensive "domain knowledge" that I thought might be worth adding.

Lay people are generally too slow to move up the color continuum just described.  Unlike most animals, humans have a distorted response curve rather than a smooth continuum.  In response to any situation (attack, getting fired, explosive diarrhea, alien abduction, lost in the woods...) we seem to have two settings:  Calm and panic.  Because panic is excessive for most situations, socialization makes us stay calm too long.  We switch from alert level 2 (calm) to alert level 8 (panic) at the flip of a switch (and too late) rather than adapting our decision making through an escalating posture of readiness.  We need to develop better alert levels 3,4,5,6,and 7 so that they are usuable rather than just skipping over them.  Hence the color code mentioned before.

Some survival thoughts:

1.  Never, ever, ever, ever, ever (get the point?) ever go from crime scene one to crime scene two.  The attacker is not trying to get you into their car or into an alley because it's a better place for you to escape or because they want to chat.  They're trying to get you there for one reason only--to reduce your ability to escape, survive, or get help.  Whatever ability you have to resist, it must be fully expended at the location of attack.  There's no "reserve" energy to be left "in the can" to dip into later, because the later is going to be worse.

2.  From the original post...  I agree that being distracted helps the attacker, but being on the phone is a great place to be.  Given the choice between attacking someone alone, or someone who is already in contact with an outsider, which would you choose?  Granted, the person on the phone won't know who the attacker is, but may very well know where the attackee is, and be in a position to initiate a response.  If you're walking in a parking ramp and feel uncomfortable, take out your phone, call a pre-arranged buddy, and say loud enough for anyone near to hear "I'm on the third level of the 8th street ramp, you guys are so close, I'll just wait here for you."  Now the friend knows where you are in case anything happens.  A potential attacker at best thinks your friends are just a block away and at worst knows that an outsider knows where you are.  If you're at "green", that call tells your friend "if you don't hear back from me in 10 minutes, call me back."  If that call is made at yellow, keep your friend on the phone.

3.  When in the Yellow-Orange-Red alert status, establish and enforce a perimeter or buffer.  Decide for yourself, "when I'm at yellow, I will not allow anyone to come within 15 feet of me without taking evasive action, or 5 feet of me without taking emergency action.  If I cannot evade to maintain 15 feet, I will move directly to red alert."  When I'm at orange, I will not let anyone come within 15 feet of me, or I will switch to an emergency response.  At red, I will not allow anyone to come within 40 feet of me or I will initiate my emergency response.  That emergency response may be flight, production of a non-lethal weapon like pepper spray, whatever, but it is positive physical ACTION to reduce risk, not just a mental note to be more alert.  Those distances may seem excessive in a more crowded environment.  But if you're in a crowd, and it's not the kind of crowd whose presence provides you with security, then you're in real trouble and need to switch to red, and evade immediately from that crowd.

Buffer example:  Let's assume you're in a parking ramp alone and night, a little uncomfortable, but not scared.   A person steps out from behind a pillar 50 feet away, but you realize they aren't coming from the direction of a building entrance, and that a car didn't just enter the ramp, so they probably don't belong there.  Why not just turn and run away now, while there's still a distance barrier?  Because we're deathly afraid of embarrassment, to the extent that we will put ourselves in danger rather than expose ourselves or a passerby to a good chuckle later on.

In all siuations, winners choose to win.  They choose to take actions that predispose them to win.

Not only does it point out some misconceptions, such as the time of day most attacks occur, but it explains some of the different motivations of the different types of rapists, which might help better our chances of surviving an assault by one.

-- Modified on 11/13/2003 2:08:38 AM

Start off by assuming that the rapist is an organized person - he has done it before and has thought about a safe and effective way to do it.  In that case, make it difficult for him.  run away, scream, or appear to pass out - fall on the ground and be non responsive.  The person might be unwilling to run after you, get involved with others, or go to the trouble of picking you up - especially if you weigh more than 120'.  Intert people are hard to move if you are not strong and if they try to move you, they leave themselves vulnerable.  

If the man is disorganized or appears to be a nut: scream and fight like heck.  Soil or stain yourself.  Go after the man's eyes.  Try to hit him in the nose with the flat of your hand.

-- Modified on 11/13/2003 11:03:24 AM

-- Modified on 11/13/2003 11:14:05 AM

a blow delivered to the nose with the flat of your hand (lower portion where it attaches to your wrist) is highly effective -- according to some self-defenses experts potentially fatal

when done "right" it is EXTREMELY painful (i've never seen a person recover from such a blow in less than a few minutes, during which time you can do more damage) ... legend has it that not only do you shatter the bones in the nose but you can wedge them deep into brain tissue causing (in some cases) irreparable brain damage and death (by hemorrhage)

hence (one of) the origin(s) of the saying of one's bare hands as "lethal weapons"

"Only 2% said they carried weapons because rape carries a 3-5 year sentence but rape with a weapon is 15-20 years."

It is difficult for me to believe that someone who is willing to rape, would be thinking in those terms.

Sorry but the nose is cartledge and impossible to push to the brain. The open palm technique is good though. Ladies (or men) should remember to keep the fingers together and pointing them slightly back with the hand very close or in front of the shouder, drive the arm straight forward or up toward the target. The most important thing is to go through the target. Don't stop once you hit surface.

There are many myths and half-truths floating around regarding the scenarios and people involved in rape. The initial post and later rebuttal both contain a number of errors and half-truths; not enough to invalidate their message, though!

As most of us should know by now, statistics can be collected and interpreted to show many different things; so instead of giving (potentially incorrect) answers outright I'll just refer to the authoritative sources below and let those interested look at the raw data and draw their own conclusions. No unsupported conclusions or anecdotal evidence from me.

The basis of most studies is formed by the UCR (Uniform Crime Report) published by the FBI. The NIJ (National Institute of Justice) and CDC (Centers for Disease Control) put together many reports and fund various studies that may be considered authoritative.

Although there are many self-defense tips & methods out there the most important part is the mindset. I've been safely protected in a FIST suit (protective soft body armor) playing the role of the "bad guy" and been literally overwhelmed and bowled over by petite 100Lb. ladies without training whose inner rage, determination [and vocal cords] were more than sufficient to deter me!

The biggest and most powerful set of muscles in our body are those in the legs; therefore we always recommend that ladies learn how to effectively kick (this isn't a Hollywood-style elegant flying leap to the head, but a quick powerful hit to groin, kneecap, shin, or instep) and that should give them time to get away. A hit to the nose or pineal glands is good - but a knee, fist, elbow, purse, forehead or heel to the groin is rather more effective. And if that doesn't work recall that as omnivores our teeth are pretty sharp and incisive as well (plus leaving a wound that will with certainty become severely infected). Anything hard, sharp or heavy can be improvised to be a weapon - I have a small scar that shows that my sister's stiletto shoes were almost a deadly weapon (I know I shouldn't have said that about her and her boyfriend at the prom, but at he time I couldn't resist...)

2002 FBI UCR report:  www.fbi.gov/ucr/cius_02/pdf/2sectiontwo.pdf

National Violence Against Women Study finding: www.rainn.org/fullnvawsurvey.pdf

National Institute of Justice: www.ojp.usdoj.gov/nij/search.htm (search for "rape" and other keywords to get many documents)