Safety tips for women

You may have already seen these, but they are good reminders of how to keep safe.

Tips on Staying Safe

Please take the time to read this. I know you are smart
enough to know these pointers but there will be some, where you will go "hmm I must remember that"

1. Tip from Tae Kwon Do: The elbow is the strongest point on your body. If you are close enough to use it, do!

2. Learned this from a tourist guide to New Orleans: if a robber asks for your wallet and/or purse, DO NOT HAND IT TO HIM. Toss it away from you ... chances are that he is more interested in your wallet and/or purse than you and he will go for the wallet/purse. RUN LIKE
MAD IN THE OTHER DIRECTION!

3. If you are ever thrown into the trunk of a car: Kick
out the back tail lights and stick your arm out the hole and start waving like crazy. The driver won't see you but everybody else will. This has saved lives.

4. Women have a tendency to get into their cars after
shopping, eating, working, etc., and just sit (doing their checkbook, or making a list, etc. DON'T DO THIS! The predator will be watching you, and this is the perfect opportunity for him to get in on the passenger side, put a gun to your head, and tell you where to go.
AS SOON AS YOU GET INTO YOUR CAR, LOCK THE DOORS AND
LEAVE.

5. A few notes about getting into your car in a parking
lot, or parking garage:

a. Be aware: look around you, look into your car, at the passenger side floor, and in the back seat.

b. If you are parked next to a big van, enter your car
from the passenger door. Most serial killers attack their victims by pulling them into their vans while the women are attempting to get into their cars.

c. Look at the car parked on the driver's side of your
vehicle, and the passenger side. If a male is sitting alone in the seat nearest your car, you may want to walk back into the mall, or work, and get a guard/policeman to walk you back out. IT IS ALWAYS
BETTER TO BE SAFE THAN SORRY. (And better paranoid than dead.)

6. ALWAYS take the elevator instead of the stairs.(Stairwells are horrible places to be alone and the perfect crime spot).

7. If the predator has a gun and you are not under his
control, ALWAYS RUN! The predator will only hit you (a running target) 4 in 100 times; And even then, it most likely WILL NOT be a vital organ. RUN!

8. As women, we are always trying to be sympathetic: STOP IT! It may get you raped, or killed. Ted Bundy, the serial killer, was a good-looking, well educated man, who ALWAYS played on the sympathies of unsuspecting women. He walked with a cane, or a limp,
and often asked "for help" into his vehicle or with his vehicle, which is when he abducted his next victim.

Thanks Bren for sharing those! It's always great to be reminded of these every once in a while.

About 5 years ago, Mom was walking out of her doctor's office, reading her lab slips and not paying attention. As she approached her car, she saw a van parked nose-to-nose with her car. A voice in her head said, "Don't walk between the cars." She walked around the far side of her car and got in. Just as she looked up, a weird-looking man was standing next to her door, with a rag in one hand and a length of wire in the other. Fortunately, Mom always locks her car doors, first thing. She drove off, post haste. I asked her why she didn't use her cell phone and call 911 and my dad wanted to know why she didn't hit her panic button. Mom said that she just froze up. Mom has never been any good, in a crisis. I went out and bought her a can of pepper spray but she left it in the kitchen. MINE is on my keyring!

If I have to go anywhere alone, at night my .38 is clipped to my belt and I always have my cellphone. The world has gone crazy!

I was once kidnapped at gunpoint, fortunately by the dumbest criminal in the world. He had me in the car, and got out to get something out of the trunk, leaving the keys in the ignition. I locked the doors, cranked the car, backed over him, and drove off. I was very lucky. I learned a very good lesson. Never get in a car just because someone is pointing a gun at you. It is unlikely that they will shoot you right there, but if they get you in the car and drive off with you, they can do what they want, at their leisure. DON'T MAKE A SECOND CRIME SCENE.
Ever since then, my .357 goes everywhere with me, along with a can of pepper spray, a cell phone, and I keep a good, sturdy pickhandle in my car. Yes, I am paranoid, but I was a criminal magnet for several years. That was the second incident out of 3 that I was in fear for my life, but not even the scariest!

OMG!!! I am so afraid, just reading this!!! I had never thought of any of those precautions! I don´t think anyone here locks the doors on the inside while driving! Maybe if you are driving in a walking speed in the downtown area and there is an annoying drunk person there, but that is very very very rare.
And OH MY GOD, do you actually have guns??? Have you ever used them? Is the world honestly so crazy out there???
Everone here lets their kid take the day nap outsite in the pram, where the air is fresh and they sleep better, and if you just jump into a shop or its a small shop and you park the car right outside, and the kid is sleeping, you don´t wake it up, but let it sleep in the car, and dont lock the door - yes some people even rarely bother to lock their cardoors. And with older children, if they cant be bother to come with you in the shops, they are allowed to just wait in the car alone.
I live on groundfloor and sometimes I used to realize it the next day that my door was unlocked! (I actually take more care of that now )
We have crimes, and they do get more brutal, and it is not adviceable to take shortcuts in the dark (I do it though ), but people don´t have guns or pepper spray etc...
I don´t know I dare to travel to the US again - this is so scary...

Well, this just confirms it, I must live on the best place on earth!
And actually, where I liver in Scotland, people didn´t lock their cars OR their houses! Here people lock their houses, not so much in the small villages though!
Oh, and in the Faroe Islands, it´s considered rude to lock one house! Neihbours ans friends just come over, and if you are not home, they can just come over anyway and make themselfes at home!

Yes, the world is that crazy here.
Yes, I have had to use my gun. I shot a guy that had ripped 2 doors off the hinges to get into my house at 3 a.m. I was 20, and had a 6 year old girl in the house with me. I wasn't charged. They found out he had raped at least 6 women and possibly killed 2 more.
When I was a kid, I remember there not even being a key to lock our house, and we thought nothing of riding our bike without parents, or walking alone to a friends house 4 blocks away. Now you can't take your eyes off your kids for a moment!

I have also heard of men running into a mall and saying to their female victim that his infant has stopped breathing and can they please help! Once they get them out of the mall and into their car...

Here it is illegal to leave your kids in the car and considered dangerous to leave a child outside unsupervised! There is so much danger outside for children and animals here in the states. Children are snached off the streets on their way to and from school.

It is better to lock the doors and be safe than to leave them open and be sorry. I have an alarm at my house. I heard of a woman that went to judge at a cat show and when she got home someone had stolen her show cats including pregnant and nursing cats. I even micro-chip my cats to ID them in case they are stolen.

Also remember that sometimes your attacker will be someone you know (it was in my case). I don't carry a gun, but I did carry MACE (even though it was illegal) for almost 2 years.

In my attack nothing worked, but I did get him to hesitate slightly by grabbing his hand with the knife and cutting myself with it. He had just been doing little stabs at me (that drew quite a bit of blood) and the long slit that bled profusely scared him (especially since only his prints were still on the knife). Here's another thing that most people don't know--besides the uterus a woman's strongest muscles are in her legs, if you're down, KICK! AND KICK HARD! Women usually don't want to hurt people but remember, these people don't care, better they're the ones who are hurt than yourself.

I grew up in an area where you could leave your doors unlocked and the kids outside the store, but I don't even let my stepson go to another part of the store without me. I panic if he's in another aisle and the shelves are too high for me to see him. We lock our doors when we're in the house and in the car.

My Mom was nearly attacked in Denver when my parents were sitting at a stoplight with their car doors unlocked. My Dad got this feeling and reached over and locked her door just as some guy tried to open it. My Dad then ran the light.

I've also heard that doing something vulgar helps (like going to the bathroom or vomiting). Never tried it though.

I think the best defense, though, is a good offense. Keep your eyes open and go with your gut feelings. Don't put yourself into situations you can't get out of. (I got myself into the situation where I was attacked by going to the jerk's house.)

Just to give some perspective. In Canada, we don't carry guns like that. And people in many places, all but the biggest cities, often will leave their car doors unlocked when they run into a store for something. I have done that, and also gone out for the evening leaving my apartment door unlocked. My sister often leaves her house unlocked when she is out and expecting a family member to drop by. And that is not unusual at all in her neighbourhood. We are not in a rural area, we are in the Greater Toronto Area, just not in the city proper.

Of course, all of the safety tips are really important.

Wow...my heart was racing when I read this! I'm so glad that all of you that have been in that kind of situation are ok! That had to be the scariest thing ever to go through...one that I can not imagine. The closest thing like this I've ever gone through was last fall. There is this EXTREMELY strange guy that was in my class in High School (he dropped out in our Freshman year) and he came to my Pharmacy. He is a total druggie, but the legal kinds of drugs. I believe at the time he was on 32 different medication ranging from very strong pain pills to mental med's! He had asked me out a couple of years ago and I told him that I was in a relationship (which was true). He stopped bugging me until he caught word that I was single (Bill and I broke up for about a month and someone must have found out about it & told him). Anyway, he would come in the store every day and just stare at me. He would occasionally ask me a question and then go back to the staring thing. Well, he called the Pharmacy one day and said that he seen my name on Classmates.com & just realized that we were in the same class. He said he wanted to go out to dinner and talk about the "good ol days". I declined, so he came in to the store and gave me a letter. I told him I was not interested and I wasn't single anymore. Didn't bother him in the least. He did these little number for 3 weeks and I finally got pissed & told the Store Manager about it. My boss (in the Pharmacy) thought it was funny and dismissed the whole thing....Until I told him that I seen this dude watching me leave the store at night. After that Brandon escorted me to my car every evening. After the Store Manager confronted him about it (told him if he didn't knock it off, we're calling the Cops), he has left me alone. A few months later, I ran into another classmate who WAS friends with him and he told me to stay as far away from him as I can. He said that this guy is packing a gun at all times and isn't afraid to use it. That scared the crap out of me! I've only seen him once since the original incidents and Brandon (my boss) told him that he is not allowed in our Pharmacy & to get the hell out. Since all of this, I've been more paranoid about men. I never let my guard down!

Fortunately, I've never had to use my weapon but its nice to know that I CAN and WILL, if necessary.

One other tip: if approached, in a parking lot, by a carjacker - throw your keys as far as you can and run in the opposite direction. Scream "FIRE"! This gets people's attention better than "help". Of course, ALWAYS drive with your passenger window up and the doors locked.

Shell, I'm glad you had responsible people around. Most people act like your pharmacy manager did at first.

I was listening to a program the other night that actually said that women are hurt less than men are in situations like these because women do not put themselves into dangerous situations (because we're socialized to believe that people will hurt is if they can) whereas men think they can fight off anything and are more likely to get killed.

At first Brandon just thought it was funny that I was getting hit on by a weirdo and didn't realize this guy was pyscho. After the first week, he realized that I was really scared when I broked down and cried about it. The last time we seen this guy was probably a month ago and it was right about the time I was getting off work. Before I could even say anything, Brandon said "You are not leaving here until I leave. I will not let you walk out there by yourself!". It made me feel good that he was concerned about me! He's a great guy...too bad his my Boss!

I think your manager is a great guy. He just had to realize the danger. The problem is with the people who don't realize the danger.

You're lucky to have such good people around you. When my ex attacked me, my former neighbors heard everything (one even came into the house and my ex showed him what he was doing) and nobody called the police. Sick!

It's sad to think but some people just don't want to get involved in situations. I guess those are the people who will have to live with the thoughts & burdens that they could have done more to help or save someone if they would have said or done something.

Ericka, it sounds like you've been through Hell and back. You are one strong Woman!

I think any woman worth her salt could have made it through what I did. I've seen worse, actually, when I was working with the domestic violence units on my case. I'm lucky. Mine wasn't that bad.

It's amazing what the human body can withstand, especially if the person has the will to live.