Safety Tips

Let me preface this by saying that a woman  is NEVER EVER EVER at fault for being raped
or attacked, but there are definitely ways to reduce your risk of being a victim.
Here are the most common mistakes women make that could result in
them getting kidnapped, attacked, and/or raped:

1.    Getting into the attacker's car when he pulls a gun and orders you to get into his vehicle.
Most attackers don't want to shoot you ... they  want  you to get into the car so that they can drive
you to a deserted place and torture you. Don't comply.  Run screaming.  It is MUCH more likely
than not that he will just move on to an easier target.

2.     Pulling over when a man drives alongside of you pointing at your car pretending something is wrong.
If this happens, drive to the nearest well-lit and populated gas station and look the car over yourself
(or ask an attendant). Never pull over.  Believe it or not, many women have fallen for this for fear of 
their car spontaneously exploding in the middle of the road.  Not likely.

3.   Not locking your doors while driving. There were several cases where the attacker simply walks up
to a woman's car while she's at a traffic light and jumps in with his gun or knife drawn.

4.    Opening your front door when you have not positively identified who is there. If you don't have
a peep hole, get one.  There were countless cases where the attacker gains access to his victims simply
by knocking on their door.  Don't let an attacker get into your home. He then has a  private, relatively
soundproof place to attack you.

5.    Not being alert in parking lots. If you go to the grocery store at night, don't be shy about asking for
an escort to your car.  Too many women are abducted from parking lots or even raped in the parking lot.

Look in your back seat before entering your car. Cars provide endless hiding places for attackers, both
inside them and in  between them.
Be aware of your surroundings by looking to the left and right and behind you with your head up all the time. 
You may appear paranoid and look funny to others, but an attacker will think twice about approaching
someone who appears so aware of what's going on.

6.     Trusting a clean cut, honest looking stranger.You can  check and see mug shots of every sex offender
in the state of Florida.  They do not look like  monsters.  They often look like they could be your friendly grocer,
bank teller, waiter, neighbor, clergy, doctor, etc.  They  are every age between 15 and 90, and probably beyond. 
Only a small minority actually look scary. There was a case of a man with only one leg who beat up his
victim with his crutch before he raped her.  Who would  have ever thought that a one-legged man could be a rapist?

7.    Trusting people to be alone with your children.This is a difficult one, because child molesters end up being
the LAST person the parents would believe is the molester. Most of the child molesting cases  involve the stepfather,
the uncle, the sister's boyfriend, the mother's boyfriend, the grandfather, the baby-sitter, the neighbor, the family
friend, the youth camp  director, day care worker, etc.  Although rare, even women can be molesters.

In every case, the perpetrator is a nice guy, trusting, good with children, and the family is baffled or even in
disbelief that the person could be abusing their child. When it comes to your children and grandchildren, be
suspicious of everyone, no matter who they are.  And pay attention to what your child says and how he/she
reacts to the mention of different people in their lives.

We are not trying to make anyone uncomfortable with this information, but unfortunately, we are still leaving in a
world that those things happened every day. We just would like every one to be more alert and share some useful
tips from professional people that observed and worked on similar cases.