Best Ways To Totally Own Your Attacker

Nearly every man in the United States knows a woman who has been raped or sexually assaulted. That is how common these crimes are.

If you are a woman and have not been assaulted, your time may be coming. This blog post will describe the places where most assaults occur, some steps to take preemptively to avoid them and what you can do to defend yourself.

What is the difference between rape and sexual assault?

According to the Bureau of Justice’s definition of rape and sexual assault the differences are mostly physical. According to them rape is “forced sexual intercourse including both psychological coercion as well as physical force.” It also includes “attempted rapes, male as well as female victims, and both heterosexual and homosexual rape.”
Sexual assault is separate from rape or attempted rape.

“These crimes include attacks or attempted attacks generally involving unwanted sexual contact between victim and offender. Sexual assaults may or may not involve force and include such things as grabbing or fondling.”

This may also include verbal threats.

How Big A Problem Is It?

According to the Rape Abuse, Incest National Network a.k.a. RAINN who keep statistics on assault and rape they explain that:

• Every two minutes another American is sexually assaulted.
• 80% of them are under the age of 30.
• 44% of them are under the age of 18.
• 60% of all sexual assaults are never reported to police.
• One out of every six American women has been a victim of an attempted or completed
  rape. The number is slightly higher for African-American women.

Where Do These Assaults Occur?

Most assaults against women occur in parking lots, on college campuses and in the home with domestic abuse and domestic violence.

Shockingly, the single biggest location for sexual assaults is in the home with women being the victims of domestic abuse and domestic violence. According to the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence, an organization which keeps statistics on domestic violence and domestic abuse their domestic violence fact sheet  shows that

1. One out of every four women will experience domestic violence in her lifetime.
2. 1.3 million women are victims of physical assault by an intimate partner every year.
3. Females between 20 and 24 years are at the greatest risk of nonfatal intimate partner violence.
4. Most cases are never reported to the police.

They defined domestic violence as “willful intimidation, physical assault, battery, sexual assault or other abusive behavior perpetrated by an intimate partner against another.” It has been called an epidemic affecting individuals in every community regardless of age, race, religion or educational background.

One location where sexual assault is quite common is on college campuses. Time magazine not long ago called college campuses dangerous places. The figure most commonly used comes from an infamous 2000 Department of Justice research report that had a sample size of 4,432 college women and a response rate of 91.6 percent. According to that report, 20.6 % of all college age women suffer sexual assault-mostly on dates with an overwhelming majority of cases being committed by someone known to the victim.

Another location that is quite common for sexual assaults is in parking lots where women are usually distracted talking with a friend, on a cell phone or watching their children. They may be parked in a remote location or an equally dangerous place in a congested area that provides plenty of hiding places for perverts between vehicles.

With that in mind as background, here are the best assault prevention tips that will work for men and women, but especially for women. Follow these tips and you may avoid an assault or survive one if you are assaulted.

Best Assault Prevention Tips

• When shopping do it during daylight hours if at all possible and avoid shopping at night when most assaults occur.
• When going from one secure area to another, from the store to your car or vice versa, pay extra special attention to your surroundings.
• Predators salivate at the sight of women going to and from secure areas. They know that women are frequently distracted and make excellent targets. It only takes a split-second for an assailant to sneak up behind a victim and assault her.
• If it all possible, when shopping go with a friend. You are less likely to be assaulted if you are with someone.
• Walk with an air of confidence with your head held high. Women who have their heads down make much better targets. Body language can be a powerful deterrent to an assault.
• Women with ponytails make excellent targets and are more likely to be assaulted than women with short hair.
• Be wary of strangers. Women are traditionally sympathetic to pitches from the down and trodden.
• If you live or work in a building that is unsecured, avoid stairwells and stick to traveled elevators. Darkened stairwells in office buildings and apartment complexes make for excellent places for assaults on women. Get your exercise somewhere else.

How To Defend Yourself

• If you are assaulted, fight back with everything you have. Assailants do not expect any resistance, so if you fight back vigorously, they may just give up. Knowing some self-defense techniques or self-defense moves always helps.
• Get used to carrying a self-defense product. And don’t just carry it, make sure that you know how to use it. If you are ever assaulted and have to fumble around in your purse finding a pepper spray or are unsure of how to use the spray, those precious seconds can cost you dearly and may mean the difference between surviving and not. A product such as a pepper spray can immobilize an assailant for as much is 45 minutes and give you precious time to escape a potentially dangerous situation. We always recommend a pepper spray that’s on a keychain so it is more likely to be with you wherever you go.

Knowing that you will be a target for the rest your life can give you an advantage, but only if you prepare and know how to avoid situations that may lead to an assault. Follow these tips and you are on your way to being safe and secure. Be proactive in preventing sexual assaults and rape. Knowing how an attacker thinks can work to your advantage. As a potential victim, you can learn from these facts and put a plan in place to be better prepared and fend off an assault.

 Have you ever been attacked? How did you defend yourself? Please share your experience. We want to hear from you.