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News & ArtsFriday, September 30, 2011
Crime / The Ladies / Fashion NY Cops Tell Women to Stop Wearing Shorts, Skirts to Help Prevent Rape
Posted by Cienna Madrid on Fri, Sep 30, 2011 at 2:31 PM
There have been 10 unsolved sexual attacks on women in Brooklyn, New York, since March. In response, NY cops have increased their patrols in the area. But that's not all the cops are doing—they're also criticizing women on the street for their allegedly rape-friendly attire.
Via the Wall Street Journal:
Lauren, a South Slope resident, was walking home three blocks from the gym on Monday when she was stopped.The 25-year-old, who did not want her last name to be used, was wearing shorts and a T-shirt when she claims a police officer asked if she would stop and talk to him. He also stopped two other women wearing dresses...."He pointed at my outfit and said, 'Don't you think your shorts are a little short?'" she recalled. "He pointed at their dresses and said they were showing a lot of skin."
He said that such clothing could make the suspect think he had "easy access," said Lauren.
She said the officer explained that "you're exactly the kind of girl this guy is targeting."
It would be swell if life was that simple, wouldn't it? If all the women in the world could agree to stop wearing shorts and, in return, all the men in the world would pledge to stop raping them.
7
"They are simply pointing out that as part of the pattern involving one or more men that the assailant(s) have targeted women wearing skirts."
If someone was targeting women wearing a specific type of outfit, I would want to know that. Yes, of course, they could have handled this better - but still...if you knew a rapists was targeting women walking alone at night in shorts, would you wear shorts and walk alone at night?
Just saying.
If someone was targeting women wearing a specific type of outfit, I would want to know that. Yes, of course, they could have handled this better - but still...if you knew a rapists was targeting women walking alone at night in shorts, would you wear shorts and walk alone at night?
Just saying.
8
the concern is genuine and well-meant, even if it is patriarchal and regressive.
send all rapists to an alaskan island and let them rape each other &/or grizzly bears.
send all rapists to an alaskan island and let them rape each other &/or grizzly bears.
10
That is a SUPER compromise. Because women are responsible for men's libidos! All we have to do is become invisible, and they will stop raping us. We all know that men are so lacking in will power that they cannot control their lust by themselves. We also know that no woman who dresses modestly gets raped. What's next? Maybe we should not be allowed to go outside by ourselves.
Can I go slap that cop without getting arrested? What a fucking idiot. What happened to teaching our kids to respect each other?
Can I go slap that cop without getting arrested? What a fucking idiot. What happened to teaching our kids to respect each other?
12
A NYPD officer rapes a woman and now officers are informing women that they are dressed like sluts. Way to go, men in blue.
15
So if all Brooklyn women stopped wearing shorts and skirts to discourage this particular serial rapist, he would merely stoop to attacking women wearing trousers or long skirts.
Those Brooklyn cops should try doing their jobs.
Those Brooklyn cops should try doing their jobs.
16
Styles of clothing are not the fucking problem - men who decide to rape women (based on whatever their fucked up criteria is for deciding "Who should I rape today?") is the problem.
If we're going to insist on treating rapists as witless, uncontrollable animals acting on instinct, can we please follow through and have them put down when they attack?
If we're going to insist on treating rapists as witless, uncontrollable animals acting on instinct, can we please follow through and have them put down when they attack?
17
@7 So if someone as targeting lesbians, I guess it would be a bad idea for me to go outside wearing a rainbow pin, right? I'd want someone to come up to me and suggest, y'know, maybe I'm dressing a little too queer for my own safety.
The rapist is probably raping women in shorts because, uh, there are a lot of women wearing shorts. It's in the 70s in New York right now.
The rapist is probably raping women in shorts because, uh, there are a lot of women wearing shorts. It's in the 70s in New York right now.
18
I dunno, "skirts" is a bit too general a description. I mean, lots of women wear skirts, so the fact that all the women assaulted happened to be wearing skirts could be coincidence.
I'd want to know, were the skirts all short? Were they all long? Blue? patterned? If its just "skirts" then that's just too general. Maybe the fact all the women were in skirts has something to do with the time of night they were assaulted, or the time of year.
I'd want to know, were the skirts all short? Were they all long? Blue? patterned? If its just "skirts" then that's just too general. Maybe the fact all the women were in skirts has something to do with the time of night they were assaulted, or the time of year.
19
Is it okay to start hating the NYPD again?
Before 9/11, they were well known for being a brutally violent, racist organization. Afterwards, pointing out Abner Louima, Sean Bell, or Amadou Diallo was considered unacceptable criticism of heros. Except ... it was pretty much the same NYPD.
To say nothing of the recent discoveries that they're running a multi-state intelligence operation with no oversight that targets minority communities.
So between the stellar behavior in this article, and the recent macings of unarmed protesters by a senior member of the department, can we just go back to hating NYPD now? Please?
Before 9/11, they were well known for being a brutally violent, racist organization. Afterwards, pointing out Abner Louima, Sean Bell, or Amadou Diallo was considered unacceptable criticism of heros. Except ... it was pretty much the same NYPD.
To say nothing of the recent discoveries that they're running a multi-state intelligence operation with no oversight that targets minority communities.
So between the stellar behavior in this article, and the recent macings of unarmed protesters by a senior member of the department, can we just go back to hating NYPD now? Please?
20
Most men have been self-censoring for decades. I wonder if it's not some kind of subconscious gay-panic response. We're, what, twenty years into cargo shorts/pants and big sloppy shirts? Before that, the casually-dressed straightest of straight guys looked like modern-day participants in a pride parade or white party, what with their bun-length cutoffs or OP shorts and skin-tight t-shirts (except for the calf-length color-band tube socks). It's weird looking at photos or clothing ads from the 70's and 80's.
I want to see some man-ass and packages out on the street on a regular basis, not just the occasional spandexed triathlete or cycling poseur.
Not in a rapey way, either. There's a difference between looking and feeling somehow entitled (duh).
I want to see some man-ass and packages out on the street on a regular basis, not just the occasional spandexed triathlete or cycling poseur.
Not in a rapey way, either. There's a difference between looking and feeling somehow entitled (duh).
23
"According to the Bureau of Justice Statistics report “Sex Offense and Offenders,” 1 in 7 sexual assault murder victims were 60 or older. 2.6% of rape victims over the age of 60 were killed during the rape. Only one age group of rape victims—ages 13 through 17—had a higher murder rate, at 3.3%."
I'm 61, so apparently I have to stay inside my -- barricaded - home in order to avoid being raped, and murdered.
I'm surprised a cop hasn't stopped me on the street and insist I'd be safer, if I got younger.
I'm 61, so apparently I have to stay inside my -- barricaded - home in order to avoid being raped, and murdered.
I'm surprised a cop hasn't stopped me on the street and insist I'd be safer, if I got younger.
24
There is a serial rapist in the hood - get all uppity and PC about it but come on, use some common sense if there is any left in the world.
25
I wish I could remember where I saw the statistic, but women in the countries like Egypt where the burqa is becoming a norm actually report higher incidences of sexual harassment. QUIT BLAMING THE VICTIMS.
26
Maybe I watch too much ncis and the like, but someone might want to look into that police officer. I hate that we live in a country where a so called "officer of the law" thinks it's okay to say shit like that to random women on the street.
27
What @7 said.
Information about a specific, serial attacker is not "slut shaming". Do these women have to take the cops' advice? No. Should women have to alter their behavior or dress because of some sociopath out there? HELL no.
But that's not the world we live in yet. I, for one, would want to know as much as I could about this sick asshole's pattern and then decide what I could or should do for my own safety.
Information about a specific, serial attacker is not "slut shaming". Do these women have to take the cops' advice? No. Should women have to alter their behavior or dress because of some sociopath out there? HELL no.
But that's not the world we live in yet. I, for one, would want to know as much as I could about this sick asshole's pattern and then decide what I could or should do for my own safety.
30
I know. Since most people who are raped are women, then they should just stop being women.
Yes it is good to get profile information out there, but do it in a professional way. Don't just go up to women and talk to them in a slutty shaming way about them showing too much skin.
Yes it is good to get profile information out there, but do it in a professional way. Don't just go up to women and talk to them in a slutty shaming way about them showing too much skin.
31
"If someone was targeting women wearing a specific type of outfit, I would want to know that. Yes, of course, they could have handled this better - but still...if you knew a rapists was targeting women walking alone at night in shorts, would you wear shorts and walk alone at night?"
Uhhhhhhh the rapist(s) weren't targeting "women who wear shorts". I don't think you read that right.
Uhhhhhhh the rapist(s) weren't targeting "women who wear shorts". I don't think you read that right.
34
the problem is never ever EVER women in short skirts. the problem is RAPISTS.
in response to the rash of unsolved sexual assaults, some incredible people have founded safe slope, where anybody can call in and get an escort home: http://safeslope.org/
in response to the rash of unsolved sexual assaults, some incredible people have founded safe slope, where anybody can call in and get an escort home: http://safeslope.org/
37
Are we still having this conversation, really? I can't believe how many victim-blamers there are, in 2011, on a supposedly progressive blog. This is as good as it gets and it's not very good.
No one is responsible for rape but rapists, and those who excuse rapist behavior by blaming rape victims or otherwise making excuses for rapists. Period.
No one is responsible for rape but rapists, and those who excuse rapist behavior by blaming rape victims or otherwise making excuses for rapists. Period.
41
@7, since they haven't caught any assailant(s), where's the proof that the men were specifically targeting women wearing skirts? It's been a very warm spring and summer... the skirt thing could be a pattern, it could be a coincidence.
42
@37 Hey, don't you know that rape never once occurred in human history until women began wearing shorts & skirts? Some people just don't understand....
44
If this were a TV crime drama, that cop would eventally be revealed as ths serial rapist, flaunting his power. Since this is reality I will just go with, that cop is creepy.
46
@41: "where's the proof that the men were specifically targeting women wearing skirts? It's been a very warm spring and summer... the skirt thing could be a pattern, it could be a coincidence."
It's hard-grizzled pop-cop psychology! He's "thinking from the mind of a rapist" to protect women from themselves.
It's hard-grizzled pop-cop psychology! He's "thinking from the mind of a rapist" to protect women from themselves.
47
@45 No shit.
Since it's a man that's doing the raping here, why don't the cops stop guys and request that they wear a locked chastity belt over their pants/shorts while out in public. Any man w/out one is a suspect.
Since it's a man that's doing the raping here, why don't the cops stop guys and request that they wear a locked chastity belt over their pants/shorts while out in public. Any man w/out one is a suspect.
48
If you walk around a bad neighborhood with your wallet out drunk and alone at night, a cop would probably advise you against that too.
I understand that women shouldn't have to feel responsible, but if you're going to be an obvious target, you should be careful. It's absolutely not your fault, and you shouldn't have to dress differently, but woman making themselves look like the easiest target in the world will obviously attract unwanted attention.
I understand that women shouldn't have to feel responsible, but if you're going to be an obvious target, you should be careful. It's absolutely not your fault, and you shouldn't have to dress differently, but woman making themselves look like the easiest target in the world will obviously attract unwanted attention.
49
Women are gonna get raped no matter what they wear, just like bike accidents will happen with or without helmets. Proponents of helmets and people who suggest women don't wear provocative outfits aren't trying to control anyones lives, there just saying "hey, you might wanna think about it."
51
I'm really tired of this bullshit where all men are lumped in with criminals. Fuck off about it already.
53
Yeah, those sluts wearing shorts and minis sure make themselves obvious targets. If they'd only dress more modestly, they'd be 100% safe from unwanted rapist attention.
54
Women who leave the house without getting inside a giant, American Gladiator-style human hamster ball have no one to blame but themselves, but I'm going to go ahead and blame them anyway, just to be safe. It's all your fault, ladies! Don't say nobody warned you.
55
@51 So no problem with all women wearing shorts and minis being lumped in with the sluts who are inviting rape?
56
@48: "I understand that women shouldn't have to feel responsible, but if you're going to be an obvious target, you should be careful"
There is no such thing as an "obvious target".
There is no such thing as an "obvious target".
57
What about wearing shorts or skirts makes someone an obvious target? There are actual things that make people more likely to be targets and none of them have to do with how they look. Showing more skin does not invite rape; men don't rape because they are driven wild by lust. They rape because they think they are entitled to rape and that they can get away with it, and shorts and skirts don't affect that at all.
When someone suggests that dressing any particular way makes a woman a rape target, all I can think is that they're outwardly expressing their own predilections as a potential rapist. Or they are trying to control women by moralizing about how a decent woman should dress and implying the threat of rape to women who disagree with them (and thus violate their idea of morality.) I really can't see it coming from a position of respect and equality.
When someone suggests that dressing any particular way makes a woman a rape target, all I can think is that they're outwardly expressing their own predilections as a potential rapist. Or they are trying to control women by moralizing about how a decent woman should dress and implying the threat of rape to women who disagree with them (and thus violate their idea of morality.) I really can't see it coming from a position of respect and equality.
58
NYPD can suck my asshole.
Maybe that will stop the donut devils from abusing those they're suppose to protect and serve. Heh.
Maybe that will stop the donut devils from abusing those they're suppose to protect and serve. Heh.
60
@43 If you walk around a bad neighborhood with your wallet out drunk and alone at night, a cop would probably advise you against that too.
There is a big difference between staggering around drunk and wearing shorts in your own neighborhood.
There is a big difference between staggering around drunk and wearing shorts in your own neighborhood.
61
@56 an obvious target is:
A blind drunk college student on the side streets in the French Quarter of New Orleans, alone, at 2am. My nephew knows that for a fact.
I truly don't wish to be insulting, but, there is such a thing as needlessly risky behavior and bad luck. My nephew exhibited both when he was assaulted.
There are reasonable precautions everyone should be aware of, because they were informed by someone that knew better. I'm not excusing the way the message was formed, but the intention was to advise cautious behavior. I wish someone had done so for my nephew.
Peace.
A blind drunk college student on the side streets in the French Quarter of New Orleans, alone, at 2am. My nephew knows that for a fact.
I truly don't wish to be insulting, but, there is such a thing as needlessly risky behavior and bad luck. My nephew exhibited both when he was assaulted.
There are reasonable precautions everyone should be aware of, because they were informed by someone that knew better. I'm not excusing the way the message was formed, but the intention was to advise cautious behavior. I wish someone had done so for my nephew.
Peace.
62
57
Reminds me of the fundamentalists who blame all evil in the world on atheism and who claim that God is the only thing keeping them from raping and murdering others.
Whooo, those are scary people, just like the people who think only pretty young things with "unrestrictive clothing" get sexually assaulted and "should have known better".
Reminds me of the fundamentalists who blame all evil in the world on atheism and who claim that God is the only thing keeping them from raping and murdering others.
Whooo, those are scary people, just like the people who think only pretty young things with "unrestrictive clothing" get sexually assaulted and "should have known better".
63
Continuing on @61,
To give an example of inappropriate male outfits, I have a friend who wore a 3 piece suit while walking home from work (in DC in the early 90s). He didn't vary his route, and got jumped one night. Was he wearing "provocative" clothing through a poor area, maybe. Could he have been more cautious in his behavior, yes (and he never walked home again).
In any case, I hope everyone is safe and sound, no matter what they may (or may not) be wearing.
Peace.
To give an example of inappropriate male outfits, I have a friend who wore a 3 piece suit while walking home from work (in DC in the early 90s). He didn't vary his route, and got jumped one night. Was he wearing "provocative" clothing through a poor area, maybe. Could he have been more cautious in his behavior, yes (and he never walked home again).
In any case, I hope everyone is safe and sound, no matter what they may (or may not) be wearing.
Peace.
64
I posted this in the other thread about rape and who is responsible:
Rape is a cultural artifact. It is not biological; it is not genetic. It is not true that men in all cultures commit rape. We can change culture. It is no longer *as* acceptable to commit domestic violence; it is no longer *as* acceptable to drive while intoxicated. These things do still happen, but how our culture views it has changed. We can do the same with rape, if we have the will.
Point being, teaching men to not sexually assault will be more effective than teaching women to toe some imaginary line of dress and conduct.
Rape is a cultural artifact. It is not biological; it is not genetic. It is not true that men in all cultures commit rape. We can change culture. It is no longer *as* acceptable to commit domestic violence; it is no longer *as* acceptable to drive while intoxicated. These things do still happen, but how our culture views it has changed. We can do the same with rape, if we have the will.
Point being, teaching men to not sexually assault will be more effective than teaching women to toe some imaginary line of dress and conduct.
67
@66,
If you read my @61 post as a response to @56's statement that there is no such thing as an "obvious target" you might cut me some slack. My nephew most assuredly was exhibiting needlessly risky behavior, and was an obvious target.
Not using seat belts, driving drunk, and eating cantaloupe from Colorado are all behaviors that are needlessly risky. My post @63 might be an example where inappropriate clothing was a needless risk. I leave that for you to decide.
Peace.
If you read my @61 post as a response to @56's statement that there is no such thing as an "obvious target" you might cut me some slack. My nephew most assuredly was exhibiting needlessly risky behavior, and was an obvious target.
Not using seat belts, driving drunk, and eating cantaloupe from Colorado are all behaviors that are needlessly risky. My post @63 might be an example where inappropriate clothing was a needless risk. I leave that for you to decide.
Peace.
70
I remember when the DC sniper was at large, police were convinced that he was driving a white van, because many witnesses, when asked what kind of cars they remember seeing, mentioned a white van.
But as it turns out, there's just a lot of white vans. (One of the shootings was at a Home Depot, for crying out loud. You'll never NOT see a white van there.)
I'm guessing it's the same for women in shorts in NYC in the summer time. They need to look for a different pattern.
But as it turns out, there's just a lot of white vans. (One of the shootings was at a Home Depot, for crying out loud. You'll never NOT see a white van there.)
I'm guessing it's the same for women in shorts in NYC in the summer time. They need to look for a different pattern.
71
@70: Yeah, like how whenever there's a mass extinction, there're always people trying to claim that it was the result of a meteor impact. (Well, ever since Chicxulub became news, at least.) People look for meteor impacts as the cause, and they always find signs of meteor impacts, because the Earth is always being hit by meteors.
If you're looking for a pattern, you'll find one.
If you're looking for a pattern, you'll find one.
72
69
That's the worst thing, people that we usually agree with are enablers for this sort of regressive shaming of women under the guise of "folksy wisdom".
People should be safe at all times, but dressing conservatively doesn't keep you from being raped. There's no need for progressive means-wellers to redefine unacceptable language on the fly and make a heap of excuses.
That's the worst thing, people that we usually agree with are enablers for this sort of regressive shaming of women under the guise of "folksy wisdom".
People should be safe at all times, but dressing conservatively doesn't keep you from being raped. There's no need for progressive means-wellers to redefine unacceptable language on the fly and make a heap of excuses.
73
@72,
Folksy wisdom notwithstanding, there are times when clueless inocents, like my nephew and friend, need advice to better protect themselves. IF they had gotten advice and IF the advice had been heeded, they wouldn't have suffered beatings and being robbed. Sometimes needless risk does exist.
I don't condone the misogynistic tone of the police. Period.
Somehow there must be a balance between the necessity of advisement and an ideal of adult respect of competence. I leave it to your imagination as to what that balance might entail.
As to being a scumbag, it isn't the first time I've been hit by friendly fire.
Peace.
@69 clashfan, thanks!
Folksy wisdom notwithstanding, there are times when clueless inocents, like my nephew and friend, need advice to better protect themselves. IF they had gotten advice and IF the advice had been heeded, they wouldn't have suffered beatings and being robbed. Sometimes needless risk does exist.
I don't condone the misogynistic tone of the police. Period.
Somehow there must be a balance between the necessity of advisement and an ideal of adult respect of competence. I leave it to your imagination as to what that balance might entail.
As to being a scumbag, it isn't the first time I've been hit by friendly fire.
Peace.
@69 clashfan, thanks!
76
In response to all the comments that boil down to, "Well, if a rapist is going after women in shorts, then women shouldn't wear shorts" comments:
One of the things that really piss me off about "crime prevention" tips like these is that they revolve around making sure that SOMEONE ELSE is the victim of the crime.
No one here (I hope) thinks that this rapist is going to stop raping if women stop wearing shorts. With that in mind, let's assume for a moment that the rapist is targeting women in shorts (and we don't know that he is).
If all women did stop wearing shorts, the rapist would switch over to raping women who weren't wearing shorts. No one would be any safer.
If some women stopped wearing shorts but others did not, then the women who wore shorts would get raped and the women who didn't would not. Women who didn't wear shorts would be safe so long as other women did wear shorts so that there was a target for the rapists' actions.
If we take this situation, then the first possibility (all women stop wearing shorts) cannot be the goal because no fewer rapes would be committed. The only possible goal is the second scenario (where only some women stop wearing shirts), wherein one woman makes herself safe by virtue of another woman being in danger. I cannot get behind a mindset that basically says, "No, don't rape me, rape HER!"
One of the things that really piss me off about "crime prevention" tips like these is that they revolve around making sure that SOMEONE ELSE is the victim of the crime.
No one here (I hope) thinks that this rapist is going to stop raping if women stop wearing shorts. With that in mind, let's assume for a moment that the rapist is targeting women in shorts (and we don't know that he is).
If all women did stop wearing shorts, the rapist would switch over to raping women who weren't wearing shorts. No one would be any safer.
If some women stopped wearing shorts but others did not, then the women who wore shorts would get raped and the women who didn't would not. Women who didn't wear shorts would be safe so long as other women did wear shorts so that there was a target for the rapists' actions.
If we take this situation, then the first possibility (all women stop wearing shorts) cannot be the goal because no fewer rapes would be committed. The only possible goal is the second scenario (where only some women stop wearing shirts), wherein one woman makes herself safe by virtue of another woman being in danger. I cannot get behind a mindset that basically says, "No, don't rape me, rape HER!"
77
Would not suprise me at all if it were Williamsburg. That used to be a hassidic neighborhood you guys gentrified.
78
Jesus Christ, a lone cop says something extremely stupid out of genuine concern and look at the canned outrage.
OUTRAGE!
OUTRAGE!
79
@clashfan -- Some cultures are free of rape? Really?
I'm not trying to antagonize you or be sarcastic, I've just never heard that before. What culture are you thinking of?
I'm not trying to antagonize you or be sarcastic, I've just never heard that before. What culture are you thinking of?
81
When I was in undergoing rape-prevention education (in my public middle and high school), they gave me an article saying that rapists target women wearing a certain garment because that garment is easy to remove--it literally gives them better access.
That garment wasn't skirts...
That garment wasn't short-shorts...
That garment was OVERALLS.
This officer was criticizing a woman for dressing lasciviously when it has long since been shown that rape is not a crime of lust.
That garment wasn't skirts...
That garment wasn't short-shorts...
That garment was OVERALLS.
This officer was criticizing a woman for dressing lasciviously when it has long since been shown that rape is not a crime of lust.
82
When will we learn that the correct response to terrorism is not to change our habits and cower in fear? This is simple terrorism (targeting people with a particular characteristic, which can cause fear in all such people), and the cops are enabling terrorism. A correct response would be to tell that cop that NYC was asking for it too when it had such tall and provocative towers. Maybe it shouldn't build itself up so much if it doesn't want to risk terrorism. Maybe it shouldn't allow itself to be so populated. Or maybe, we should stop blaming the victims, cowering in fear, and start fighting to stop the terrorism while proudly maintaining our lifestyle.
83
Instead of stopping women to chastise them, the cops should post the info online and in flyers. "locals are advised that the suspect is targeting victims in shorts and short skirts."
No sense of blaming the victim, no individual attention (a cop singling me our for such treatment- or any guy really -would kind of scare me), and the info is out there for women to make their own decisions.
No sense of blaming the victim, no individual attention (a cop singling me our for such treatment- or any guy really -would kind of scare me), and the info is out there for women to make their own decisions.
84
While people perceive dress to have an impact on who is assaulted, studies of rapists suggest that victim attire is not a significant factor. Instead, rapists look for signs of passiveness and submissiveness, which, studies suggest, are [*pg 145] more likely to coincide with more body-concealing clothing.
http://www.law.duke.edu/shell/cite.pl?14…
http://www.law.duke.edu/shell/cite.pl?14…
85
@82 @84
Let's not bring facts into a bunch of faux sex-positive, faux-progressive idiots circlejerking themselves into thinking they're offering "helpful advice" and not just participating in rape culture.
Let's not bring facts into a bunch of faux sex-positive, faux-progressive idiots circlejerking themselves into thinking they're offering "helpful advice" and not just participating in rape culture.
86
@83 You're a blithering idiot. Rapists rape women who wear clothes.
"For their information" is how things like the Ritual Satanic Abuse scare and other cultural fads of fear, misinformation, and all other snopesworthy hoaxes spread.
"For their information" is how things like the Ritual Satanic Abuse scare and other cultural fads of fear, misinformation, and all other snopesworthy hoaxes spread.
87
http://www.snopes.com crime prevent rape.asp
"Rape is also not always about getting sex quickly. Often it's an act of rage or punishment directed at a vulnerable person for perceived injustices done to the attacker by others. Getting a woman out of her clothes quickly isn't a factor in these rapes; terrorizing her and inflicting bodily harm is.
If we take points one and two together, we're to believe rapists arm themselves with scissors for cutting overall straps (instead of just easing them off the shoulders or — heaven forbid! — undoing the fasteners) yet fail to think to equip themselves with rolls of duct tape to keep their victims subdued, preferring instead to grab hold of their hair and hang on.
According to Denver Police Sgt. John Burbach, most rapes occur in the evening hours and into early morning, ending before dawn, not "between 5 and 8:30 a.m." as claimed in the e-mail. Statistics from the U.S. Department of Justice fully support him in this claim: The DOJ says "Approximately two-thirds of rapes/sexual assaults occurred at night — 6 p.m. to 6 a.m."
As for the tidbit "The number one place women are abducted from/attacked at is grocery store parking lots. Number two is office parking lots/garages. Number three is public restrooms," Kathie Kramer, public relations coordinator at the Denver Rape Assistance and Awareness Program (RAAP) says, "Statistics in studies I've found don't support this idea about grocery stores or parking lots being especially unsafe." Location is important in a violent sexual assault, but there's nothing inherently dangerous about parking lots or public restrooms; what matters is their isolation. Areas heavily frequented by foot traffic are far less likely to be chosen by a rapist. Likewise, badly-lit, less-frequented places will be favored for this type of attack.
The e-mail claims that only 2% of rapists (one out of every fifty) carries a weapon. That figure is seriously out of whack: 1995 U.S. Department of Justice statistics show that weapons were used in 30% of all rapes, meaning the chances that your rapist will be armed is just a little less than one in three. Battling an armed attacker while unarmed yourself is rarely a wise course of action to take, and misstatements such as the 2% figure could well incite an attacked woman to thrust herself into that dynamic because she figures her chances are far better than they actually are.
"If you put up any kind of a fight at all, they get discouraged because it only takes a minute or twofor them to realize that going after you isn't worth it because it will be time-consuming." That's great advice, provided you get the right rapist. And you've no way of knowing until it's too late.
As comforting as it might be to believe there's only one sort of baddie out there and if you understand his mind you can stay safe, that just isn't the case. There is no one set of right answers, and e-mails of this ilk potentially put us at even greater risk by suggesting that there is.
Around 1980, Nicholas Groth, director of Forensic Mental Health Associates, established a typology of rapists. Groth arrived at his conclusions by distilling his observations of more than 3,000 sex offenders over the course of 25 years of practice. (Most of his patients, Groth points out, were not sexually deprived at the time they committed rape, thereby exploding that most common of rape myths: that men rape because they're unable to get sex any other way.)
In a general sense, rapists fall into three motivational types: anger, power, and sadism. In anger assaults, the rapist is getting even for "some wrong he feels has been done to him, by life, by his victim at the time. He's in a frame of rage and attacks someone sexually." The anger rape is usually unpremeditated and impulsive, but the impulse drives the rapist into excessive force: the victim is punched, choked, and kicked into submission. Most such offenders derive little pleasure from the act, says Groth, but "they want to degrade their victims, and sex is something bad, dirty, the worst thing you could do to someone. That reflects a lot of our values in society."
An anger rapist could be discouraged by a potential victim who yells at him or puts up a physical struggle, thanks to the unpremeditated nature of the attack. Because the aggressor may not yet have fully decided to pursue this course of action, resistance may well change his mind. Here, even a half-hearted attempt might prove to be all it takes to end the assault. On the other hand, the rage the attacker is feeling might well be further fed by active resistance — this could be taken as yet another instance of one more person trying to deny him something he wants.
Power rape, according to Groth, is a form of compensation, committed usually by men who feel unsure of their competence. Rape gives them a sense of mastery and control. Power rapists usually hunt for victims or seize opportunities that present themselves unbidden. A power rapist is unlikely to be discouraged by resistance because his whole self image is wrapped up in his attempt to prove mastery. A woman who chooses to fight one of these had better do a darned good job of it, because she could well end up fighting for her life.
Groth defines his third type, sadistic rape, as eroticized aggression perpetrated by those whom the very act of forcible sex excites in ways that consensual sex can't. "If the anger components of aggression are eroticized," he explains, "then you see sadistic acts, such as deliberate sexual torture, using an instrument to rape the victim." A sadistic rapist is interested in inflicting pain and lasting harm. Any countering aggression on the part of the victim could well add to the attacker's enjoyment of the experience, prompting him to further acts of depravity in an effort to provoke further resistance.
The question of to fight back or not is an age-old one, and there's no one right answer. Granted, one particular rapist might be sent running bloody-nosed by a swift right hook, but try that on another one and a horrific experience could be transformed into a fatal one. Resistance advice of the type being circulated in the e-mail in question creates the false impression that escaping unscathed from the clutches of a rapist is only a matter of knowing which self-defense tricks to employ. Reality, however, is far different. Not all rapists can be overcome.
Does this then mean self-defense classes are a waste of time? Hardly. But they're also not the surefire protection they're too often touted to be, any more than a can of mace confers upon its wielder guaranteed safe passage through whatever mean streets and dark alleys lie in her path. Also, physical skills are only as good as recent training — someone who hasn't practiced a move in the three months since she took a course is only a tad better prepared to fend off an attacker than someone who never had any training at all. Worst of all, such training can lead those who have aced their courses to develop a dangerous complacency about their own safety, inducing them into a state of overconfidence wherein awareness of their surroundings becomes a lost art, buried under the certainty that now bad things can't happen to them.
Complacency kills.
As always, the best defense to an attempted rape is not to be there when it happens — either avoid potentially dangerous situations (none of this "Oh, it's only a few blocks; I'll just walk" at 3 a.m.) or run like hell if you find yourself in one. Escaping your attacker is a far wiser course of action to strive for than attempting to do battle with him. Forget about his needing a good beating followed by a lengthy jail term; your first priority has to be your own safety. Leave the Wonder Woman stuff for Linda Carter and make like a track star vying for a gold medal in the 100m.
The e-mail did contain one bit of valuable advice: Stay aware of your surroundings. Not only is it important to see trouble coming before it gets to you and avoid it, but an alert stance can help discourage a would-be attacker. Those looking to prey upon others — whether their aim is robbery, rape, or mayhem — generally choose as victims those who appear preoccupied or tentative in preference to those who exude a sense of purpose. Or, as I was told long ago, "Always look like you know exactly where you're going and move like you're expected to be there at exactly a certain time." Mooning about aimlessly can make you a statistic.
So, to sum up, is avoiding a rape a matter of wearing your hair short and eschewing overalls? Hardly. And anyone who attempts to characterize it as such ought to be whomped over someone's knee."
More...
"Rape is also not always about getting sex quickly. Often it's an act of rage or punishment directed at a vulnerable person for perceived injustices done to the attacker by others. Getting a woman out of her clothes quickly isn't a factor in these rapes; terrorizing her and inflicting bodily harm is.
If we take points one and two together, we're to believe rapists arm themselves with scissors for cutting overall straps (instead of just easing them off the shoulders or — heaven forbid! — undoing the fasteners) yet fail to think to equip themselves with rolls of duct tape to keep their victims subdued, preferring instead to grab hold of their hair and hang on.
According to Denver Police Sgt. John Burbach, most rapes occur in the evening hours and into early morning, ending before dawn, not "between 5 and 8:30 a.m." as claimed in the e-mail. Statistics from the U.S. Department of Justice fully support him in this claim: The DOJ says "Approximately two-thirds of rapes/sexual assaults occurred at night — 6 p.m. to 6 a.m."
As for the tidbit "The number one place women are abducted from/attacked at is grocery store parking lots. Number two is office parking lots/garages. Number three is public restrooms," Kathie Kramer, public relations coordinator at the Denver Rape Assistance and Awareness Program (RAAP) says, "Statistics in studies I've found don't support this idea about grocery stores or parking lots being especially unsafe." Location is important in a violent sexual assault, but there's nothing inherently dangerous about parking lots or public restrooms; what matters is their isolation. Areas heavily frequented by foot traffic are far less likely to be chosen by a rapist. Likewise, badly-lit, less-frequented places will be favored for this type of attack.
The e-mail claims that only 2% of rapists (one out of every fifty) carries a weapon. That figure is seriously out of whack: 1995 U.S. Department of Justice statistics show that weapons were used in 30% of all rapes, meaning the chances that your rapist will be armed is just a little less than one in three. Battling an armed attacker while unarmed yourself is rarely a wise course of action to take, and misstatements such as the 2% figure could well incite an attacked woman to thrust herself into that dynamic because she figures her chances are far better than they actually are.
"If you put up any kind of a fight at all, they get discouraged because it only takes a minute or twofor them to realize that going after you isn't worth it because it will be time-consuming." That's great advice, provided you get the right rapist. And you've no way of knowing until it's too late.
As comforting as it might be to believe there's only one sort of baddie out there and if you understand his mind you can stay safe, that just isn't the case. There is no one set of right answers, and e-mails of this ilk potentially put us at even greater risk by suggesting that there is.
Around 1980, Nicholas Groth, director of Forensic Mental Health Associates, established a typology of rapists. Groth arrived at his conclusions by distilling his observations of more than 3,000 sex offenders over the course of 25 years of practice. (Most of his patients, Groth points out, were not sexually deprived at the time they committed rape, thereby exploding that most common of rape myths: that men rape because they're unable to get sex any other way.)
In a general sense, rapists fall into three motivational types: anger, power, and sadism. In anger assaults, the rapist is getting even for "some wrong he feels has been done to him, by life, by his victim at the time. He's in a frame of rage and attacks someone sexually." The anger rape is usually unpremeditated and impulsive, but the impulse drives the rapist into excessive force: the victim is punched, choked, and kicked into submission. Most such offenders derive little pleasure from the act, says Groth, but "they want to degrade their victims, and sex is something bad, dirty, the worst thing you could do to someone. That reflects a lot of our values in society."
An anger rapist could be discouraged by a potential victim who yells at him or puts up a physical struggle, thanks to the unpremeditated nature of the attack. Because the aggressor may not yet have fully decided to pursue this course of action, resistance may well change his mind. Here, even a half-hearted attempt might prove to be all it takes to end the assault. On the other hand, the rage the attacker is feeling might well be further fed by active resistance — this could be taken as yet another instance of one more person trying to deny him something he wants.
Power rape, according to Groth, is a form of compensation, committed usually by men who feel unsure of their competence. Rape gives them a sense of mastery and control. Power rapists usually hunt for victims or seize opportunities that present themselves unbidden. A power rapist is unlikely to be discouraged by resistance because his whole self image is wrapped up in his attempt to prove mastery. A woman who chooses to fight one of these had better do a darned good job of it, because she could well end up fighting for her life.
Groth defines his third type, sadistic rape, as eroticized aggression perpetrated by those whom the very act of forcible sex excites in ways that consensual sex can't. "If the anger components of aggression are eroticized," he explains, "then you see sadistic acts, such as deliberate sexual torture, using an instrument to rape the victim." A sadistic rapist is interested in inflicting pain and lasting harm. Any countering aggression on the part of the victim could well add to the attacker's enjoyment of the experience, prompting him to further acts of depravity in an effort to provoke further resistance.
The question of to fight back or not is an age-old one, and there's no one right answer. Granted, one particular rapist might be sent running bloody-nosed by a swift right hook, but try that on another one and a horrific experience could be transformed into a fatal one. Resistance advice of the type being circulated in the e-mail in question creates the false impression that escaping unscathed from the clutches of a rapist is only a matter of knowing which self-defense tricks to employ. Reality, however, is far different. Not all rapists can be overcome.
Does this then mean self-defense classes are a waste of time? Hardly. But they're also not the surefire protection they're too often touted to be, any more than a can of mace confers upon its wielder guaranteed safe passage through whatever mean streets and dark alleys lie in her path. Also, physical skills are only as good as recent training — someone who hasn't practiced a move in the three months since she took a course is only a tad better prepared to fend off an attacker than someone who never had any training at all. Worst of all, such training can lead those who have aced their courses to develop a dangerous complacency about their own safety, inducing them into a state of overconfidence wherein awareness of their surroundings becomes a lost art, buried under the certainty that now bad things can't happen to them.
Complacency kills.
As always, the best defense to an attempted rape is not to be there when it happens — either avoid potentially dangerous situations (none of this "Oh, it's only a few blocks; I'll just walk" at 3 a.m.) or run like hell if you find yourself in one. Escaping your attacker is a far wiser course of action to strive for than attempting to do battle with him. Forget about his needing a good beating followed by a lengthy jail term; your first priority has to be your own safety. Leave the Wonder Woman stuff for Linda Carter and make like a track star vying for a gold medal in the 100m.
The e-mail did contain one bit of valuable advice: Stay aware of your surroundings. Not only is it important to see trouble coming before it gets to you and avoid it, but an alert stance can help discourage a would-be attacker. Those looking to prey upon others — whether their aim is robbery, rape, or mayhem — generally choose as victims those who appear preoccupied or tentative in preference to those who exude a sense of purpose. Or, as I was told long ago, "Always look like you know exactly where you're going and move like you're expected to be there at exactly a certain time." Mooning about aimlessly can make you a statistic.
So, to sum up, is avoiding a rape a matter of wearing your hair short and eschewing overalls? Hardly. And anyone who attempts to characterize it as such ought to be whomped over someone's knee."
88
http://www.snopes.com crime prevent rape.asp
"Rape is also not always about getting sex quickly. Often it's an act of rage or punishment directed at a vulnerable person for perceived injustices done to the attacker by others. Getting a woman out of her clothes quickly isn't a factor in these rapes; terrorizing her and inflicting bodily harm is.
If we take points one and two together, we're to believe rapists arm themselves with scissors for cutting overall straps (instead of just easing them off the shoulders or — heaven forbid! — undoing the fasteners) yet fail to think to equip themselves with rolls of duct tape to keep their victims subdued, preferring instead to grab hold of their hair and hang on.
According to Denver Police Sgt. John Burbach, most rapes occur in the evening hours and into early morning, ending before dawn, not "between 5 and 8:30 a.m." as claimed in the e-mail. Statistics from the U.S. Department of Justice fully support him in this claim: The DOJ says "Approximately two-thirds of rapes/sexual assaults occurred at night — 6 p.m. to 6 a.m."
As for the tidbit "The number one place women are abducted from/attacked at is grocery store parking lots. Number two is office parking lots/garages. Number three is public restrooms," Kathie Kramer, public relations coordinator at the Denver Rape Assistance and Awareness Program (RAAP) says, "Statistics in studies I've found don't support this idea about grocery stores or parking lots being especially unsafe." Location is important in a violent sexual assault, but there's nothing inherently dangerous about parking lots or public restrooms; what matters is their isolation. Areas heavily frequented by foot traffic are far less likely to be chosen by a rapist. Likewise, badly-lit, less-frequented places will be favored for this type of attack.
The e-mail claims that only 2% of rapists (one out of every fifty) carries a weapon. That figure is seriously out of whack: 1995 U.S. Department of Justice statistics show that weapons were used in 30% of all rapes, meaning the chances that your rapist will be armed is just a little less than one in three. Battling an armed attacker while unarmed yourself is rarely a wise course of action to take, and misstatements such as the 2% figure could well incite an attacked woman to thrust herself into that dynamic because she figures her chances are far better than they actually are.
"If you put up any kind of a fight at all, they get discouraged because it only takes a minute or twofor them to realize that going after you isn't worth it because it will be time-consuming." That's great advice, provided you get the right rapist. And you've no way of knowing until it's too late.
As comforting as it might be to believe there's only one sort of baddie out there and if you understand his mind you can stay safe, that just isn't the case. There is no one set of right answers, and e-mails of this ilk potentially put us at even greater risk by suggesting that there is.
Around 1980, Nicholas Groth, director of Forensic Mental Health Associates, established a typology of rapists. Groth arrived at his conclusions by distilling his observations of more than 3,000 sex offenders over the course of 25 years of practice. (Most of his patients, Groth points out, were not sexually deprived at the time they committed rape, thereby exploding that most common of rape myths: that men rape because they're unable to get sex any other way.)
In a general sense, rapists fall into three motivational types: anger, power, and sadism. In anger assaults, the rapist is getting even for "some wrong he feels has been done to him, by life, by his victim at the time. He's in a frame of rage and attacks someone sexually." The anger rape is usually unpremeditated and impulsive, but the impulse drives the rapist into excessive force: the victim is punched, choked, and kicked into submission. Most such offenders derive little pleasure from the act, says Groth, but "they want to degrade their victims, and sex is something bad, dirty, the worst thing you could do to someone. That reflects a lot of our values in society."
An anger rapist could be discouraged by a potential victim who yells at him or puts up a physical struggle, thanks to the unpremeditated nature of the attack. Because the aggressor may not yet have fully decided to pursue this course of action, resistance may well change his mind. Here, even a half-hearted attempt might prove to be all it takes to end the assault. On the other hand, the rage the attacker is feeling might well be further fed by active resistance — this could be taken as yet another instance of one more person trying to deny him something he wants.
Power rape, according to Groth, is a form of compensation, committed usually by men who feel unsure of their competence. Rape gives them a sense of mastery and control. Power rapists usually hunt for victims or seize opportunities that present themselves unbidden. A power rapist is unlikely to be discouraged by resistance because his whole self image is wrapped up in his attempt to prove mastery. A woman who chooses to fight one of these had better do a darned good job of it, because she could well end up fighting for her life.
Groth defines his third type, sadistic rape, as eroticized aggression perpetrated by those whom the very act of forcible sex excites in ways that consensual sex can't. "If the anger components of aggression are eroticized," he explains, "then you see sadistic acts, such as deliberate sexual torture, using an instrument to rape the victim." A sadistic rapist is interested in inflicting pain and lasting harm. Any countering aggression on the part of the victim could well add to the attacker's enjoyment of the experience, prompting him to further acts of depravity in an effort to provoke further resistance.
The question of to fight back or not is an age-old one, and there's no one right answer. Granted, one particular rapist might be sent running bloody-nosed by a swift right hook, but try that on another one and a horrific experience could be transformed into a fatal one. Resistance advice of the type being circulated in the e-mail in question creates the false impression that escaping unscathed from the clutches of a rapist is only a matter of knowing which self-defense tricks to employ. Reality, however, is far different. Not all rapists can be overcome.
Does this then mean self-defense classes are a waste of time? Hardly. But they're also not the surefire protection they're too often touted to be, any more than a can of mace confers upon its wielder guaranteed safe passage through whatever mean streets and dark alleys lie in her path. Also, physical skills are only as good as recent training — someone who hasn't practiced a move in the three months since she took a course is only a tad better prepared to fend off an attacker than someone who never had any training at all. Worst of all, such training can lead those who have aced their courses to develop a dangerous complacency about their own safety, inducing them into a state of overconfidence wherein awareness of their surroundings becomes a lost art, buried under the certainty that now bad things can't happen to them.
Complacency kills.
As always, the best defense to an attempted rape is not to be there when it happens — either avoid potentially dangerous situations (none of this "Oh, it's only a few blocks; I'll just walk" at 3 a.m.) or run like hell if you find yourself in one. Escaping your attacker is a far wiser course of action to strive for than attempting to do battle with him. Forget about his needing a good beating followed by a lengthy jail term; your first priority has to be your own safety. Leave the Wonder Woman stuff for Linda Carter and make like a track star vying for a gold medal in the 100m.
The e-mail did contain one bit of valuable advice: Stay aware of your surroundings. Not only is it important to see trouble coming before it gets to you and avoid it, but an alert stance can help discourage a would-be attacker. Those looking to prey upon others — whether their aim is robbery, rape, or mayhem — generally choose as victims those who appear preoccupied or tentative in preference to those who exude a sense of purpose. Or, as I was told long ago, "Always look like you know exactly where you're going and move like you're expected to be there at exactly a certain time." Mooning about aimlessly can make you a statistic.
So, to sum up, is avoiding a rape a matter of wearing your hair short and eschewing overalls? Hardly. And anyone who attempts to characterize it as such ought to be whomped over someone's knee."
More...
"Rape is also not always about getting sex quickly. Often it's an act of rage or punishment directed at a vulnerable person for perceived injustices done to the attacker by others. Getting a woman out of her clothes quickly isn't a factor in these rapes; terrorizing her and inflicting bodily harm is.
If we take points one and two together, we're to believe rapists arm themselves with scissors for cutting overall straps (instead of just easing them off the shoulders or — heaven forbid! — undoing the fasteners) yet fail to think to equip themselves with rolls of duct tape to keep their victims subdued, preferring instead to grab hold of their hair and hang on.
According to Denver Police Sgt. John Burbach, most rapes occur in the evening hours and into early morning, ending before dawn, not "between 5 and 8:30 a.m." as claimed in the e-mail. Statistics from the U.S. Department of Justice fully support him in this claim: The DOJ says "Approximately two-thirds of rapes/sexual assaults occurred at night — 6 p.m. to 6 a.m."
As for the tidbit "The number one place women are abducted from/attacked at is grocery store parking lots. Number two is office parking lots/garages. Number three is public restrooms," Kathie Kramer, public relations coordinator at the Denver Rape Assistance and Awareness Program (RAAP) says, "Statistics in studies I've found don't support this idea about grocery stores or parking lots being especially unsafe." Location is important in a violent sexual assault, but there's nothing inherently dangerous about parking lots or public restrooms; what matters is their isolation. Areas heavily frequented by foot traffic are far less likely to be chosen by a rapist. Likewise, badly-lit, less-frequented places will be favored for this type of attack.
The e-mail claims that only 2% of rapists (one out of every fifty) carries a weapon. That figure is seriously out of whack: 1995 U.S. Department of Justice statistics show that weapons were used in 30% of all rapes, meaning the chances that your rapist will be armed is just a little less than one in three. Battling an armed attacker while unarmed yourself is rarely a wise course of action to take, and misstatements such as the 2% figure could well incite an attacked woman to thrust herself into that dynamic because she figures her chances are far better than they actually are.
"If you put up any kind of a fight at all, they get discouraged because it only takes a minute or twofor them to realize that going after you isn't worth it because it will be time-consuming." That's great advice, provided you get the right rapist. And you've no way of knowing until it's too late.
As comforting as it might be to believe there's only one sort of baddie out there and if you understand his mind you can stay safe, that just isn't the case. There is no one set of right answers, and e-mails of this ilk potentially put us at even greater risk by suggesting that there is.
Around 1980, Nicholas Groth, director of Forensic Mental Health Associates, established a typology of rapists. Groth arrived at his conclusions by distilling his observations of more than 3,000 sex offenders over the course of 25 years of practice. (Most of his patients, Groth points out, were not sexually deprived at the time they committed rape, thereby exploding that most common of rape myths: that men rape because they're unable to get sex any other way.)
In a general sense, rapists fall into three motivational types: anger, power, and sadism. In anger assaults, the rapist is getting even for "some wrong he feels has been done to him, by life, by his victim at the time. He's in a frame of rage and attacks someone sexually." The anger rape is usually unpremeditated and impulsive, but the impulse drives the rapist into excessive force: the victim is punched, choked, and kicked into submission. Most such offenders derive little pleasure from the act, says Groth, but "they want to degrade their victims, and sex is something bad, dirty, the worst thing you could do to someone. That reflects a lot of our values in society."
An anger rapist could be discouraged by a potential victim who yells at him or puts up a physical struggle, thanks to the unpremeditated nature of the attack. Because the aggressor may not yet have fully decided to pursue this course of action, resistance may well change his mind. Here, even a half-hearted attempt might prove to be all it takes to end the assault. On the other hand, the rage the attacker is feeling might well be further fed by active resistance — this could be taken as yet another instance of one more person trying to deny him something he wants.
Power rape, according to Groth, is a form of compensation, committed usually by men who feel unsure of their competence. Rape gives them a sense of mastery and control. Power rapists usually hunt for victims or seize opportunities that present themselves unbidden. A power rapist is unlikely to be discouraged by resistance because his whole self image is wrapped up in his attempt to prove mastery. A woman who chooses to fight one of these had better do a darned good job of it, because she could well end up fighting for her life.
Groth defines his third type, sadistic rape, as eroticized aggression perpetrated by those whom the very act of forcible sex excites in ways that consensual sex can't. "If the anger components of aggression are eroticized," he explains, "then you see sadistic acts, such as deliberate sexual torture, using an instrument to rape the victim." A sadistic rapist is interested in inflicting pain and lasting harm. Any countering aggression on the part of the victim could well add to the attacker's enjoyment of the experience, prompting him to further acts of depravity in an effort to provoke further resistance.
The question of to fight back or not is an age-old one, and there's no one right answer. Granted, one particular rapist might be sent running bloody-nosed by a swift right hook, but try that on another one and a horrific experience could be transformed into a fatal one. Resistance advice of the type being circulated in the e-mail in question creates the false impression that escaping unscathed from the clutches of a rapist is only a matter of knowing which self-defense tricks to employ. Reality, however, is far different. Not all rapists can be overcome.
Does this then mean self-defense classes are a waste of time? Hardly. But they're also not the surefire protection they're too often touted to be, any more than a can of mace confers upon its wielder guaranteed safe passage through whatever mean streets and dark alleys lie in her path. Also, physical skills are only as good as recent training — someone who hasn't practiced a move in the three months since she took a course is only a tad better prepared to fend off an attacker than someone who never had any training at all. Worst of all, such training can lead those who have aced their courses to develop a dangerous complacency about their own safety, inducing them into a state of overconfidence wherein awareness of their surroundings becomes a lost art, buried under the certainty that now bad things can't happen to them.
Complacency kills.
As always, the best defense to an attempted rape is not to be there when it happens — either avoid potentially dangerous situations (none of this "Oh, it's only a few blocks; I'll just walk" at 3 a.m.) or run like hell if you find yourself in one. Escaping your attacker is a far wiser course of action to strive for than attempting to do battle with him. Forget about his needing a good beating followed by a lengthy jail term; your first priority has to be your own safety. Leave the Wonder Woman stuff for Linda Carter and make like a track star vying for a gold medal in the 100m.
The e-mail did contain one bit of valuable advice: Stay aware of your surroundings. Not only is it important to see trouble coming before it gets to you and avoid it, but an alert stance can help discourage a would-be attacker. Those looking to prey upon others — whether their aim is robbery, rape, or mayhem — generally choose as victims those who appear preoccupied or tentative in preference to those who exude a sense of purpose. Or, as I was told long ago, "Always look like you know exactly where you're going and move like you're expected to be there at exactly a certain time." Mooning about aimlessly can make you a statistic.
So, to sum up, is avoiding a rape a matter of wearing your hair short and eschewing overalls? Hardly. And anyone who attempts to characterize it as such ought to be whomped over someone's knee."
89
Not unlike the attitude that if the people in the recent hair salon video had behaved differently then that nice pit bull wouldn't have chased people around the store. It wasn't the dog's fault, he was forced into the behavior by the victim.
90
Ignorant asshole cop... rape has very little to do with sexual arousal. It's about power and control.
91
@79, many cultures throughout history. The Ashanti people, in what is now Ghana. The Mbuti/Bambuti groups in the Congo.The Minangkabau area of Sumatra.
As these area and people have increased contact with the 'Western' world, rape begins to happen. Through the late 1980's, the Minangkabau still were rape-free. It would be difficult to say that today.
http://www.csub.edu/~jgranskog/inst205/b…
http://www.sas.upenn.edu/~psanday/rapea.…
As these area and people have increased contact with the 'Western' world, rape begins to happen. Through the late 1980's, the Minangkabau still were rape-free. It would be difficult to say that today.
http://www.csub.edu/~jgranskog/inst205/b…
http://www.sas.upenn.edu/~psanday/rapea.…
92
Remember the Knapp Commission???? The year was 1978, a brave and honest cop named Serpico helped to expose the absolute corruption of the NYPD.
The commission's findings: that at least 88% (that's eighty-eight percent) of the NYPD was on the take, bogus, corrupt crooked...get the picture???
Today, it's 100%.
'Nuff said.....
The commission's findings: that at least 88% (that's eighty-eight percent) of the NYPD was on the take, bogus, corrupt crooked...get the picture???
Today, it's 100%.
'Nuff said.....
94
@92: Goddamnit sgt_doom, even when you're on the same side as people, you ramble on and make very little sense. The NYPD sucks, but corrupt? You're blathering on about them being in the pocket of "Big Rape"?
95
Just like the police do in Afghanistan, Iraq and other Muslim theocracies. Apparently, straight men are savage, sex-starved beasts; how nice that the police are affirming that.
96
@78 - "canned outrage"? Seriously? A number of people on this thread are speaking from personal experience. A number of us have been assaulted wearing jeans and sweatshirts, in our own beds wearing nightgowns, wearing workboots and coveralls. From what lofty perch of personal knowledge do you deem this "canned outrage"? This is very real to a number of us here.
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