The Personal Safety Fear Factor

Over the past few months I have been reading a lot and doing a lot of research into personal safety, especially for women. I had no idea what I was getting myself into! The vast majority of what I have read is scare tactics, and while they may be effective, I think they can also go too far. Yes, bad people do bad things, and yes, there are bad people out there. However, we cannot let that control our lives. I will not regurgitate all of the horror stories that I have been reading. Rather, I want to empower women out there to continue living their lives, unafraid of the things that we cannot control.

So, I want to challenge all women to think C-A-P:

• Be Confident! Walk with purpose and with your head held high. You are in control of your surroundings. Attackers are looking for someone who looks unsure of what they are doing or where they are going.
  
• Be Aware! Look around you when you are walking, look out the window or through the peep hole on your door before opening it, assess situations before you walk in to them. If you feel you are walking into a questionable situation, do what you can to get out of it and if you cannot get out of it, then have an exit strategy ready and if possible, have someone with you. At home, do not answer your door to an unexpected guest, especially at night and especially when home alone. Know who is supposed to be walking around in your neighborhood and take note if you see someone out of place.
  
• Be Prepared! I am not going to tell you to buy a gun. While I am not against guns, I have come to the conclusion that they are not for me. I prefer non-lethal protection like a stun gun, or taser, or even pepper spray, all of which I sell on my website: www.morethanstunguns.com. There is a wide variety of non-lethal weapons available today. The first thing you need to do is to find out what is legal in your city and state - some laws either prohibiting or restricting the use of some of these devices - check out the list of laws and restrictions that I have posted on my site here. Next, figure out what you are comfortable with. For some of us, pepper spray may be the best option - it is effective and there are several small pepper sprays that have keychaings making them easy to carry around. Stun guns and tasers definitely pack more punch. A stun gun can be used to chock someone who gets too close to you. As with pepper sprays, there are several different types of stun guns available. While stun guns generally require physical contact with an attacker, a taser is a derivation of a stun gun that does not require physical contact with an attacker and can be used up to 15 feet away. So, do some research for yourself and determine what you would be comfortable having on your person for your safety.
  

Now, go out there and live your life! Yes, as a woman, you may be more likely to be the target. Accept that fact and do what you can to be a difficult target – think C-A-P! Be Confident! Be Aware! And Be Prepared!