A group of rapists and date rapists in prison were interviewed on what they look for in a potential victim and here are some interesting facts:

1. The first 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.

2. The second thing men look for is clothing. They will look for women who’s clothing is easy to remove quickly. Many of them carry scissors around specifically to cut clothing.

3. 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.

4. Men are most likely to attack & rape in the early morning, between 5:00a.m.and 8:30a.m.

5. The number one place women are abducted from/attacked is grocery store parking lots. Number two is office parking lots/garages. Number three is public restrooms.

6. The thing about these men is that they are looking to grab a woman and quickly move her to another location where they don’t have to worry about getting caught.

7. Only 2% said they carried weapons because rape carries a 3-5 year sentence but rape with a weapon is 15-20 years.

8. 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.

9. These men said they would 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.