Women's Safety
Overview
Women's safety includes protection from physical harm, rape, date rape, stalkers, domestic violence, and murder.
I met Jane in 1990 after she attended my class for women's self-defense. A rape survivor herself, she managed a rape crisis center answering hot line calls from new victims of age-old crimes.
Jane sent me rape survivors with acute PTSD for private, pro bono self-defense lessons (with two female rape crisis center staffers joining us). Later, a second rape crisis center also began doing so. Learning self-defense helps rape survivors regain resilience and self-confidence. See Fighting Options - Overview.
All rape survivors (or survivors of any violent crime against a woman) should call their local rape crisis center for help with lingering, subconscious problems – even if the crime happened long ago.
More Insights
►Immersed in domestic violence as a child, and having taught self-defense to many crime survivors, I noticed that rapists, stalkers, and batterers are basically all the same: delusional bullies imposing their "self-entitlement" on victims, and many often commit all three offenses at one time or another. (See the Psychopathy Check List explained in Predatory Mind.)
►In Stalking Overview, I coined simple terms for the two types of stalkers - "romantic fantasy" and "ex-partner" to replace clunky academic terms.
►Females commit ~20% of violent crimes (per the FBI). Some may seem friendly (at first), commit crimes alone, or in groups, or help male partners. So evaluate ALL strangers by their behavior and red flags.
ALL Women's Safety Tips
► Date Rape (or “Acquaintance Rape”): hidden risks, date rapist profiles, early warning signs, controlling a date, and escaping a threat.
► Date Rape Drugs: learn from survivors how to stay safe
► Cyber Stalking: how to stop it.
► Stalking overview: definition, stalker profiles, and victim profiles.
► Stalker Warning Signs: how to nip it in the bud.
► Protection Order: should you get one?
► Stop a Stalker: the Top 10 Ways
► Domestic Violence (or Relationship Violence): batterer's profiles, understanding the psycho-dynamics, and escaping.
► Teen Abuse: how to escape
► Battered Woman Syndrome: early warning signs, profiles, and resources.
► College Security: learn campus safety from crime survivors.
► Recap & Resources: a summary of this Women's Safety section.
► Security Products - Personal Devices
For overall rape prevention strategies – both acquaintance and stranger – see Rape Escape Options - Overview and especially Ultimate Rape Prevention.
