Spit-up On My Shoulder

Although not strictly a new mom issue, I felt this was good information for all women. You might want to print it out and read it often to keep it fresh in your mind.

Through a Rapist’s Eyes

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 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.

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 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 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, yell I HAVE PEPPER SPRAY! 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. 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. 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 rapists 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.

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. Stay safe!