February 01st, 2015

Victim Selection Through the Eyes of a Rapist

Every 9 seconds a women is sexually assaulted or beaten in America.

In a recent study, a group of rapists were interviewed in prison to gain insight into what they look for in a potential victim. Believe it or not, there is actually a great deal of pre-meditation that goes into selecting their target. The overall consensus is that they look for an easy target. The goal is to grab a woman and quickly move her to a second location where they have more control over the environment, hence, to not worry about getting caught.

A woman’s hairstyle is the first thing they look for in a potential target victim. Most of the men agreed that a woman with a pony tail, braid, long hair or other hairstyle that can be easily grabbed is a preferable target. Women with short hairstyles are less likely to be victimized.

Clothing that can be removed quickly is another criteria that these convicted rapists stated was a consideration when selecting their victim. For example, a skirt is preferable to pants with boots. 
A cotton outfit is preferable to leather. Most of these men admitted to carrying scissors with them to quickly cut away any clothing.

The top three places that women are abducted are 1) grocery store parking lots, 2) office parking lots/parking garages, and 3) public restroom.

In the interviews, it was overwhelmingly stated that these rapists were looking for easy targets. Women who were distracted, on their cell phone or fumbling around for their car keys were much more likely to be abducted and sexually assaulted.

If a woman put up any kind of fight at all, they often would get quickly discouraged because they knew she would be difficult to “man handle”. Yelling to call attention was an equally strong deterrent.

These men stated that women with umbrellas or other similar objects that can be used from a distance are strong deterrents. Keys in the woman’s hand were not, due to the fact that they could only be used once the attacker was already in the personal space zone.  Walking with your stun gun, pepper spray  or kubatan key ring  in hand, confidently and alert, with your keys in hand ready to enter your car without fumbling around proved to be paramount in deterring a potential sexual assault. A pepper spray key ring is an ideal way to carry your pepper spray in the ready position and have your car keys ready to open the door immediately when you reach your vehicle.

If someone approaches you, is alone in an elevator with you or seems to be following you, look them directly in the face and ask them a question or start small talk. These convicted rapists said that once they realized a woman could provide facial recognition, they no longer considered her a potential victim and were diswayed from proceeding with their planned attack.

Do not ever let your guard down! Ted Bundy, the serial killer, was notorious for playing into the compassion and sympathy of his victims. He walked with a cane or a limp and asked for help getting into his vehicle as a means of drawing in his victim and then abducting her.

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