---------------------- Forwarded by Andrea Ring/HOU/ECT on 01/16/2001 12:49 
PM ---------------------------
   Michele Winckowski @ ENRON                01/16/2001 09:47 AM

To: Andrea Ring/HOU/ECT@ECT
cc:  
Subject: Fwd: FW: Advice on Self-Defense

I THINK THIS IS THE SAME GUY WE HAD IN OMAHA - HE WAS VERY ENTERTAINING WITH 
SOLID INFORMATION.

Hi, ladies,  I just finished taking the most amazing self-defense
class, sponsored by Shandwick, and I wanted to share some really 
valuable info with you before it goes out of my head.  The guy 
who taught the class has a female friend who was attacked last 
year in the parking garage at Westport Plaza in St. Louis one 
night after work and taken to an abandoned house and raped.  
He started a women's group and began teaching these classes
soon after. This guy is a black belt in karate and trains twice 
a year with Steven Segall. He and the  others in this group 
interviewed a bunch of rapists and date rapists in  prison on 
what they look for and here's some interesting facts:

The #1 thing men look for in a potential victim is hairstyle.  
They are most likely to go after a woman with a ponytail, bun, 
braid or other hairstyle that can easily be grabbed.  They are 
also likely to go after a woman with long hair. Women with short 
hair are not common targets.  

The second thing men look for is clothing.  They will look for 
women who's clothing is easy to remove quickly.  The #1 outfit 
they look for is overalls because many of them carry scissors 
around to cut clothing and on overalls the straps can be easily cut.

They also look for women on their cell phone, searching through their
purse or doing other activities while walking because they are off
guard and can be easily overpowered.

The time of day men are most likely to attack and rape a woman is
in the early morning, between 5 and 8:30 a.m. 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 
rest rooms.

The thing about these men is that they are looking to grab a woman
and quickly move her to a second location where they don't have to
worry about getting caught.  Only 2% said they carried weapons 
because rape carries a 3-5 year sentence but rape with a weapon 
is 15-20 years. If you put up any kind of a fight at all, they get 
discouraged because it only takes a minute or two for them to 
realize that going after you isn't worth it because it will be 
time-consuming. 

These men said they will not pick on women who have umbrellas, 
or other similar objects that can be used from a distance, in
their hands.  Keys are not a deterrent because you have to get 
really close to the attacker to use them as a weapon.  So, the 
idea is to convince these guys you're not worth it. 
Several defense mechanisms he taught us are:

* If someone is following behind you on a street or in a garage
  or with you in an elevator or stairwell, look them in the face 
  and ask them a question, like what time is it, or make general 
  small talk, I can't believe it is so cold out here, we're in 
  for a bad winter.  Now you've seen their face and could identify
  them in a lineup, you lose appeal as a target.

* If someone is coming toward you, hold out your hands in front 
  of you and yell Stop or Stay back!  Most of the rapists this man
  talked to said they'd leave a woman alone if she yelled or showed 
  that she would not be afraid to fight back.  Again, they are 
  looking for an EASY target.  If you carry pepper spray (this 
  instructor was a huge advocate of it and carries it with him 
  wherever he goes), yelling I HAVE PEPPER SPRAY and holding it
  out will be a deterrent.

* If someone grabs you, you can't beat them with strength but you
  can by outsmarting them. If they grab your wrist, pull your wrist
  back so your hand is in waving position (palm facing forward) and
  twist it toward yourself and pull your arm away. It is hard to 
  hold onto wrist bones that are moving in that way. They stumble 
  toward you and you stumble back, so you can use that momentum to 
  bring the same out and backhand them with your knuckles in the 
  forehead, nose or teeth.

* If you are grabbed around the waist from behind, pinch the attacker
  either under the arm between the elbow and armpit or in the upper
  inner thigh. HARD. One woman in a class this guy taught told him 
  she used the underarm pinch on a guy who was trying to date rape her
  and was so upset she broke through the skin and tore out muscle 
  strands - the guy needed stitches.
  Try pinching yourself in those places as hard as you can stand it.
  It hurts.

* After the initial hit, always go for the groin. I know from a
  particularly unfortunate experience that if you slap a guy's balls 
  (sorry to be graphic) it is extremely painful. You might think that 
  you'll piss the guy off and make him want to hurt you more, but the 
  thing these rapists told our instructor is that they want a woman 
  who will not cause a lot of trouble.
  Start causing trouble and he's out of there.

* When the guy puts his hands up to you, grab his first two fingers
  and bend them back as far as possible with as much pressure pushing 
  down on them as possible. The instructor did it to me without using 
  much pressure and I ended up on my knees and both knuckles cracked 
  audibly.

Of course the things we always hear still apply.  Always be aware of
your surroundings, take someone with you if you can and if you see 
any odd behavior, don't dismiss it, go with your instincts. You may 
feel a little silly at the time, but you'd feel much worse if the guy 
really was trouble.

Please forward this to any woman you know, it's simple stuff that
could save her life.
















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