Stay with People!

You're walking to your car in a parking lot after dropping off of donation of clothes. As you reach your vehicle, this man (sketch at right) approaches and asks a question. You turn slightly to answer and then you see it -- he's drawn a gun. He orders you into your own car, drives you from the parking lot to a quiet residential neighborhood where he sexually assaults you.

This is precisely the scenario a 21-year-old woman faced recently at the hands of a man who is thought to have committed at least 3 other assaults since August.

What would you do?

It's hard to provide a definitive answer for any one specific situation, but generally, you cannot allow yourself to be taken somewhere else.

As one of the six basic principles of women's self-defense, you need to either stay with people or go to people.

Do not ever let yourself be taken somewhere. Cops call it the "secondary crime scene" and most of the time it will be where your worst nightmare resides. If you are approached in a public place do not get in a vehicle with him. Do not walk around the building to the alley -- STAY where others can see you. His worst fear is the fear of getting caught, so you should drop to the ground if you need to in order to prevent him from carrying you away. On the other hand, if you are in your house or another location that is private, you need to GO to people. His worst fear is the fear of getting caught -- run out the door to a neighbor’s. Crawl out a window onto the roof. Drive your car up to a diner or convenience store. Go where there are lights and others.

Go to the Rape Escape page for more articles and information on women's self-defense.