Interesting facts collected from interviews of rapists and date rapists in prison on what they look for. The main things that men look for in a potential victim is their hairstyle. They are most likely to go after a woman with a ponytail, braid, or other type of hairstyle that can be easily grabbed. Women with short hair are not as common of a target as woman with long hair. The second thing men look for is clothing. They often look for women whose clothing is easy to remove quickly and easily. The easiest outfit they look for is overalls. Many of them carry scissors to cut clothing and overall straps.

An easy target is a woman on her cellphone, searching through her handbag, or doing some type of distracting activity while walking. It is because the woman is caught that off guard that she is easily overpowered.

The times of day men are most likely to attack and rape a woman is in the early morning, between 5:00 & 8:00 a.m.

place women are abducted from and or attacked is the grocery store parking lot.

place is office parking lots or garages.

is public rest rooms.

The main thing to understand is that these men are looking to grab a woman and quickly move her to a second location where there is less danger of getting caught.

It is reported that less that 2% said they carried weapons because rape carries a 3-5 year sentence while rape with a weapon is 15-20 years. It only takes a minute or two for them to realize that going after you is not worth it because it will be time-consuming. It is for this reason that if you put up any kind of a fight at all, they get discouraged. As dangerous as this sounds this may help make the difference for survival. Keys are not a deterrent because you have to get really close to the attacker to use them as a weapon, where as they would not pick on women who have umbrellas, or other similar objects that can be used from a distance, in their hands. The idea is to convince these guys you're not worth it. Several defense mechanisms are:

If someone is coming toward you, hold out your hands in front of you and yell "Stop!" or "Stay back!" Most of the rapists talked to say they'd leave a woman alone if she yelled or showed that she would not be an EASY target. Pepper spray can be a huge deterrent but I advise you to take lessons in the art of self defense first.

If you feel that someone is following behind you on a street or in a garage look him in the face and ask him a question, like what time is it. Now that you've seen his face you could identify him in a lineup, you may possibly lose your appeal as a target. Be aware if someone or a group of men are entering an elevator or stairwell with you in and make general small talk. "I can't believe it is so cold out here; we're in for a bad winter."

If someone grabs you, you may not be able to beat him with strength but you can try outsmarting him. If he grabs your wrist, pull your wrist back so your hand is in waving position (palm facing forward) and twist it toward yourself and pull your arm away. It is harder to hold onto wrist bones that are moving in this way. By catching him off guard will stumble toward you and you stumble back, you will be able to use the momentum to bring the same hand out and backhand him with your knuckles in the forehead, nose or teeth.

After the initial hit, always go for the groin. Do not be afraid that you may anger the him and make him want to hurt you more, rapists do not want a woman who will cause a lot of trouble.

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. If you feel that this may not be effective try pinching yourself in those places as hard as you can stand it.

If a man 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. You can do this without using much pressure.

Always be aware of your surroundings, take someone with you if you can and if you see any odd behavior, don't dismiss anything always go with your instincts. You may feel a little silly at the time but you'd feel much worse if the guy was really trouble.

Better to be safe than sorry!! Never get in the car with him, if he wants to rob you, throw the money or keys so he has to go get it, then run and yell "Fire." It's more effective than "Help." Chances are that will be your last ride.

Never help a person with a van trying to load it himself and having trouble (with possibly a fake broken arm or leg), that's how Ted Bundy got 60 of his victims...in mall or grocery store parking lots. I realize that this all seems like sim

ple information but keep in mink that could save your life or the life of a loved one. Don't hesitate to send this anyone you love too

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