Back in the 90's a rising young female rock singer in Seattle was brutally raped and murdered after leaving a bar.
She was walking down the street alone, at 2:00 AM with headphones on! (Talk about looking like a victim.
) Along comes this scumbag driving down the street, sees her, pulls over, jumps out and drags her into his car.
She doesn't see or hear a thing.
Her body was found some time later.
(The perpetrator was eventually caught and sent to prison.
) What a tragedy! But one that might have been avoided.
Perpetrators are predators, they look for the easiest victim.
If you are out late at night, walking in your own little world, you look like a victim.
You have to be aware, head up, eyes on the street, to show you know what's happening around you.
Unfortunately that is not enough and if the attack still comes you have to be prepared.
Because if you do see what's coming and don't have any form of protection, such as pepper spray, all your awareness will go for naught.
As a personal anecdote, I put myself in a victim position and it applies to women too.
Back in the 80's and 90's I was bartending in a working class neighborhood bar in Chicago (I figured it was the easiest way to make a living while trying to become a writer).
One night a customer that I had become friends with was in the bar with some guys he knew.
They invited me over to one of their apartments after work.
I didn't know the other guys but what's to fear, so I went.
We were sitting around the kitchen table drinking rather heavily.
I went to the bathroom down the hall and I could barely hear them talking.
For some reason I had become spooked, I don't recall exactly why, but I was pretty drunk.
I opened the door a crack and could hear one of them saying something like let's jump him or get him.
(I had stupidly mentioned that I had also made a lot of money that night.
) Looks like I'd gotten myself into a rather sticky situation.
What to do? I splashed water on my face to pull myself together and make a plan of escape.
I wasn't going down without a fight! The problem was I couldn't exactly remember where the front door was.
Well, the first thing I did was make sure my pepper spray was armed and ready.
I walked out of the bathroom with my hand on the pepper spray in my pocket.
As I got to the table where all of us were sitting I told no one in particular that the toilet had almost flooded over (not true).
A couple of them got up and went into the bathroom.
I then pulled the pepper spray out, saying something like "geez, I got pepper spray all over my pocket".
I can still remember them looking at the pepper spray and then looking at each other! I then started walking around the apartment trying to locate the front door, mumbling that I also "don't feel too good".
I wandered into the front room, located the front door, quietly opened it and bam, I was out.
I was half way home before they knew I was gone.
It could have been a lot worse.
I was lucky, but I learned some valuable lessons.
Always know where you are, who you are with and always keep your wits about you.
And always keep some form of legal protection with you.
Even though I didn't have to use the pepper spray, it worked as a deterrent.
It gave me enough time to make my escape.
This is why your personal safety is a two fold proposition.
You have to be aware and you have to have some form of non-lethal protection such as pepper spray, which is the most popular and effective.
Pepper Spray is easy to use, cheap, and can be carried in your pocket, purse or even as a ring on your finger (great idea).
It can come in canisters that include regular spray containers, ball point pens, lipsticks, cell phones and more.
It is essential that a woman finds a way to protect herself.
Non-lethal Pepper Spray is an excellent way to do this.
Buy Pepper Spray to protect yourself.
Don't be a victim.