I have this annoying friend, who has an office job. Her favourite task for her work filled days, is forwarding me stupid e-mails. Which tell me that unless I pass this on to one hundred people in ten minutes I will die a horrible death, or something along them lines. Usually when I recieve these little treasures from her, I just delete them, without even opening them. This one had quite an interesting title, it went along the lines of.....
SALLY I KNOW YOU HATE THESE, BUT YOU REALLY MUST READ THIS ONE, IT IS VERY IMPORTANT!!!!!!!
Now against my better judgement I opened this one. This is what I recieved.....
Metropolitan Police Issued
This Newsletter October 2004 MUST BE READ
Through a Rapist’s Eyes
A group of rapists and date rapists in prison were interviewed on what they look for in a potential victim and here are some interesting facts:
1 The first thing men look for in a potential victim is hairstyle. They are most likely to go after a woman with a ponytail or other hairstyle that can be easily be grabbed. They are also likely to go after a woman with long hair. Woman with short hair are not common targets.
2 The second thing men look for is clothing. They will look for woman whose clothing is easy to remove quickly. Many of them carry scissors around to cut clothing.
3 They also look for women on their mobile phone, searching through their purse or doing other activities while walking, because they are off guard and can be easily overpowered.
4 The time of day men are most likely to attack and rape a woman is in the early morning, between 05.00 and 08.30 am.
5 The thing about these men is that they are looking to grab a woman quickly mover her to a second location where they don’t have to worry about getting caught.
6 Only 2% said they carried weapons because rape carries a 3 – 5 year sentence, but rape with a weapon is 15 – 20 years.
7 If you put up any kind of a fight at all, they get discouraged because it only takes a minute or two for them to realise that going after you isn’t worth it because it will be time-consuming.
8 These men said they would not pick on women who have umbrellas, or other similar objects that can be used from a distance, in their hands. Keys are not a deterrent because you have to get really close to the attacker to use them as a weapon. So, the idea is to convince these guys you’re not worth it.
9 Several defence mechanisms he taught us are: if someone is following behind you on a street or in a garage or with you in a lift or stairwell, look them in the face and ask them a question, like “what time is it?” or make general small talk, “I can’t believe it is so cold out here, we’re in for a bad winter”. Now you’ve seen their face and could identify them in a line-up, you lose appeal as a target.
10 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 said they’d leave a woman alone if she yelled or showed that she would not be afraid to fight back. Again, they are looking for an EASY target.
Now most of this is common sense, I guess. The one that freaked me out the most was the time of day men are most likely to attack and rape a woman is in the early morning, between 05.00 and 08.30 am. I go jogging in the morning, usually about 7am. I don't go in the park, but I go quite near one, so this did worry me slightly. Speaking as a young woman, I can say sometimes I do get quite paranoid when walking down the street, when there is a bloke behind me. Just wondering what they are upto. I know I shouldn't. They are only walking down the street, but we have this fear factor. We are made to be scared of everything. Of course we should be aware of things. It is good that we are. I just think it's sad that a guy can't even walk down the same street as me, without me wondering about him.
After recieving this e-mail, the next day on my morning jog, I was more paranoid, about everyone I came across. No ponytail for me, and I even wondered if I should of taken an umbrella with me! I know I shouldn't make light of this information. It is very helpful. I just don't want to live my life scared. We are all so scared of things. It's sad that we can't trust people as much anymore. That people you don't know, are no longer just a friend you haven't made yet, but a potential threat to you. When I have children i want them to be able to play outside freely. I want them to explore, without fear. The way things are going, that won't be the case. It's all very sad.