HOW NOT TO BE A VICTIM

The key to being on the defense is to put yourself on the offense.  How do you do that?  Here are a few general guidelines.

First and foremost, stay aware of people in your surroundings. Not surprisingly, criminals exhibit predatory behavior in preparing to attack. They will try to pick a casual location to look for their prey. They will look at with their intended victim far more and for longer periods of time than social norms. They will move when the prey moves.

They will stop and look around for witnesses. They will often make several passes by the prey in a sort of 'dry run', seeing if the victim will react or to get a sense of how the attack might work.  Pay attention! Who is looking at you? Has the same person or car passed by you twice? Does someone appear to be moving with you?

If you find yourself in this type of situation, simply change your route but also be prepared to run or defend yourself.  If you do have to run, run towards people.  Surround yourself with as many people as you can so get to a crowded place like a mall or a store as soon as you possibly can.

Do not wear conspicuous jewelry or clothing while walking on the street.  This brings attention to you and opens yourself up to an attack.  If you are wearing expensive jewelry, take measures to cover it up.  Flashing a huge diamond or expensive earrings is just an invitation for a robber to mug you and take that jewelry.

Do not act like an easy target.  Walk with confidence and purpose.  If an attacker sees you walking like you have no particular place to go, they are more likely to tag you as easy prey. 

If a stranger approaches you, maintain eye contact with them as you keep on walking.  Most fights are won before they start.  Many aggressors will back down if you convey the message that they do not intimidate you.

Do not ever let yourself be taken somewhere.  Police call it a "secondary crime scene" and it's where you will likely experience your worst nightmare.  Never, ever get into a vehicle with someone and never put yourself in a place where you are alone or where there are no people around. 

An attacker's worst fear is getting caught.  If you find yourself in an attempted abduction, drop to the ground to prevent him from carrying you.  Draw attention to yourself and your situation. 

Attract attention from anyone you can. The first thing he will say to you is "don't scream or I'll kill you". He's telling you exactly what will ruin his plan. Go ahead, ruin his plan -- create a disturbance, scream, throw things, blow the horn. If you think you should yell "fire" go right ahead. You can't count on others coming to your aid, but you want to appeal to his fear of getting caught and make him think that someone could hear you and be coming.

We also advocate singing.  That's right - sing.  Sing anything and sing it at the top of your lungs.  We especially like "The Star Spangled Banner" because if people see or hear you in the middle of a street singing the national anthem, they'll look around to see who is crazy enough to be doing that.  Plus, your attacker will not want this type of attention and he will most likely flee at the earliest possible moment.

Keep a barrier between you and the bad guy. Use a barrier to block him or use distance to gain time. Keep your doors locked, and stay in your car. Force him to get through a barrier before he can get to you.

Use your strongest weapons against his weakest targets. His weakest targets are those that are most valuable, yet ironically, cannot be entirely strengthened. His eyes, throat, groin and knees are your primary targets. Your secondary targets are his face and his abdomen. Strong weapons that you can employ are your kicks using the bottom of your feet, your elbows, fists and palm heel strikes.

In general, it's always a good idea to fight back when you find yourself in an attack situation.  Women who fight back are injured less often and are more successful in stopping the attack no matter what kind of attack it is.  They feel better about themselves afterwards too.

People who've never been in a situation where they wanted to fight often think that they couldn't fight, but you will find, if you're faced with a life or death situation, that it's very easy to fight. But you need to know how to fight back in order for that instinct to be effective.  You need to break through that emotional barrier you've instilled and be confident that you have the ability to protect yourself.

It's not necessary to take years of training in order to become an effective fighter or in order to develop a personal protection plan that works for you. In a couple of hours or a few days, you can become proficient in a number of different techniques and learn something about how you apply them.

There are, however, some things you can carry with you in order to protect yourself.  Some of them are a bit controversial and experts believe that certain tools are better than others.  Let's take a look.