Critical Tips to Avoid An Abduction

Here’s the scenario:

You are on a first date and it’s going amazing! After dinner, he suggests that you take the date further and go for drinks at the new club that opened a few miles away. As you’re walking to your respective cars to drive there, your date suggests that you just ride together and save the hassle of two cars.

Here’s the conclusion:

The girl who has known her whole life that you “don’t get into a car with a stranger” has just broken her most trusted personal safety rule. And she did it because, after having an amazing dinner with this guy, he didn’t “feel” like a “stranger” anymore. She let her guard down and didn’t even realize it.

Hopefully our male character is one of the good guys, but you get the point. Sex traffickers, kidnappers and abductors rarely fit the image we have of a shady guy driving up with a lollipop hanging out the window asking “Do you want some candy little girl?”. They are much smarter and far more cunning than the stereotype of a human predator that we have in America.

THE TAKEAWAY:

Just because you’ve been on a few dates, workout with someone or see them every day at the office or in class- they are still a stranger in your life for all practical purposes.

Have you ever been approached on your way to the car and asked for the time of day? How about asked if you would mind completing a quick survey? Did you know that predators have used both of these methods to inject themselves into their victim’s personal space and then proceeded to abduct them?

Protecting your personal space in all situations is key to thwarting an abduction attempt. An attacker can’t steal you, if they can’t grab you or get you to go with them willingly.

THE TAKEAWAY:

My personal space is something to guard at all times. It’s important to enlarge that boundary when you are alone, in public and around people you don’t really know that well.

Having options is not just a woman’s prerogative, it’s key to your safety awareness and self-defense prep.

• Know more than one route to where you are going. If you feel like you are in a dangerous situation, change the course to your destination by going another way to avoid putting yourself in a high-risk scenario all together.

• Carry self-defense gear at all times and be ready to use it. Something as simple as a pepper spray keychain could be the game changer and provide you an opportunity to escape the situation before you are stolen from the scene of the crime.

• Having a back-up plan in place before you are in a crisis is vital to female self-defense. It’s not enough to read this article and consider yourself educated on how to avoid being abducted.
  • Take a free self-defense class so that you are able to fight effectively.
  • Carry two different self-defense products in case one of them malfunctions (or the battery isn’t fully charged on your stun gun).
  • Familiarize yourself with the area beforehand so you can reach safety quickly in an emergency.
  • Have 911 already programmed on a hot button in your phone.

THE TAKEAWAY:

Have a well thought out self-defense plan beforehand with contingencies in place in case something doesn’t goes down as you imagined.

If your attempts to avoid an abduction are unsuccessful, you need to be ready to fight for your life. Statistics show that your chance of survival drops by 50% if you are taken from the scene. Your chances of escape are even less.

• Grab onto anything to help you resist being taken away. This could be your shopping cart, a garbage can, the light post or even your car antennae. Make like super glue and stick it girl!
  
• Use your self-defense weapon or make one if you don’t have it. Lace your car keys between your fingers like “pointy knuckles. Grab a rock, the nail trimmers or tweezers in your purse, or take off your shoe and use it as a weapon.
• Cause a wreck if you are in a car. Grab the steering wheel or your attacker’s groin if you are able to. It’s gonna suck, but it’s better than being taken away from the scene.
• If a car-jacking unfolds and an attacker jumps into your passenger seat and forces you to drive, hit the gas pedal and crash into something so that you can escape. Wrecking your own car on purpose goes against every instinct you have, but that’s what insurance is for darlings.

THE TAKEAWAY:

Do whatever you possibly can to avoid being taken from the scene of the attack. Your chance of escape is drastically reduced once you have been removed from the scene of the crime.

Abductions can happen any time of the day and anywhere that your daily life takes you. Adult women are being abducted right out of grocery store parking lots. Children are being kidnapped right from the bus stop. Teen boys and girls are being stolen after the Friday night football game. 

This is why it’s vitally important to educate the entire family on effective ways to thwart an abduction. Have a convo with your daughter. Schedule a dorm floor meeting and have a group discussion. And most importantly, prepare yourself in advance to prevent being a victim of abduction.

Are you ready to up your self-defense game? Defense Divas® offers a diva-fantastic selection of self-defense products for women, including, Stun Guns, TASER® devices, Pepper Sprays, Concealed Carry Purses,  Bulletproof Clothing, Backpacks & Accessories and more. Protect yourself today from an active shooter at work or school with our full line of bulletproof products. Learn more about women’s empowerment, self-defense and female personal safety  at Defense Divas®.