TRUE CRIME LIBRARY
Safety Tips for Women

True Crime Library teaches you safety tips for women - things you should never do and things you should do - things that could you save your life. It’s far better to know them and not need them, than to need them and not know.

Charity Gibson parked at her apartment building and saw a suspicious man walking toward her car. She decided to get out and face him. The man pointed a handgun at her and demanded her purse and that she get in her car’s trunk. As she crawled into the trunk, she remembered her new car had a glow-in-the-dark release latch inside the trunk. As soon as she felt the car slow down, she jumped out of the trunk and landed on the pavement.

Ms. Gibson made split-second decisions to escape, but a True Crime Library Review has the luxury of leisurely analyzing how she could have improved her survival odds.

First, Ms. Gibson should’ve driven away OR stayed IN her locked car and blown the car’s horn nonstop rather than getting out to face him. Loud noise, especially before the crime has truly begun, usually scares away criminals. See Escaping Carjacking.

Second, since Ms. Gibson had already exited her car, she would’ve been better off dropping her car keys and running away – letting him have the car but not have her.

There’s only a 12 percent chance that a robber will call attention to himself by firing a gun in a populated area and only a 3 percent chance of hitting you fatally (per the USDOJ). Moreover – now think about this: if he's willing to kill you on the spot, he's likely to do worse at a secluded, secondary crime scene. See Outdoor Safety - Spotting Danger > How He Reaches For A Weapon and Survival Options - Kidnapping.

Nevertheless, Ms. Gibson wisely escaped before the car had gained much speed. Her bravery may well have saved her life – and certainly taught us a lifesaving lesson.

True Crime Library:
WOMAN RECALLS TERROR

Christopher Kornberger attacked Renee Basile with a razor in her driveway one night, and she defeated him in a long struggle. He ran away, and later admitted he’d intended to kidnap her. He later attacked four other women, raping and killing one.

Her husband was home but neither he nor her neighbors heard her screams for help. And her best friend, with whom she'd been talking on her cell phone, was unable to help. She lost faith in her fellow man and still struggles to believe that not every stranger walking toward her wants to kill her.

True Crime Library Review: see Predators’ Favorite Targets (someone distracted with a cell phone) on Outdoor Safety - Predators Favorite Targets (partway down the page) and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) on Crime Survivors - Overview.

True Crime Library:
WOMEN JOGGERS ATTACKED

The victim habitually went for a morning jog for many years. The rapist watched her for a while to know where she was going next. Bradley Scott Sneed tackled her from behind and dragged her under a fence. At first she was screaming, but he became more violent. So she began talking him down, asking what he wanted. He told police that’s why he didn’t rape her.

Sometimes Talking Does NOT Work:

13-year old Esme Kenney was jogging and literally ran into serial killer Anthony Kirkland, spilling his beer. She apologized. Kirkland said he beat the girl and raped her. She didn’t scream or fight. Instead, she just talked to him. She asked if he had children. That’s when Kirkland said he saw the hated mother of his son and he killed the girl.

You must learn how to talk to your attacker at Verbal Self Defense.

True Crime Library Review:
• See Outdoor Safety - Predator’s Favorite Targets for jogging advice.
• See Rape Escape Options - Prevention to weigh your choices.
• See Intuition to help you choose an option.
• See Victim’s Options - Overview of fight or flight – or talking your way out of danger.

True Crime Library:
VICTIMS WHO FIGHT BACK

Experts say that victims who fight back against their attackers often suffer the same emotional trauma as those who remain passive. It's traumatic either way. Afterward, victims often wonder what they could have or should have done.

Some people are paralyzed in a crisis, while others try to connect with the criminal, hoping he’ll be less willing to hurt them. However, many victims choose to submit – hoping for the best. Victims should do whatever it takes to survive by trusting their intuition. Although victims who’d killed a criminal often experience PTSD, they know they did what they had to do to survive.

True Crime Library Review:
See “Fear Itself: fear, panic, and courage” - stress-control-fear-itself.

True Crime Library:
HOME REPAIRMAN / HOME INVADER

Stanley Stander had just installed flooring in Ralph and Mattie Michaels' home before breaking in, then beating and robbing them. Ralph Michaels was bludgeoned and bound then heard his wife screaming for mercy.

True Crime Library Review: Learn more about the risks of hired help in Home Security - Cracks. Also see Home Security - Overview.

True Crime Library: SUMMARY

Deter a predator by carrying a Personal Security Alarm (a.k.a. screamer or noisemaker) & Pepper Spray in plain sight.

Related pages:
Outdoor Safety - Spotting Danger | Outdoor Safety - Predators Favorite Targets | Survival Options - Kidnapping | Rape Escape Options - Prevention | Stress Control - Willpower | Home Security - Cracks | Security Products - Apartment | Best Pepper Spray | Personal Security Alarm

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