Let’s look at the facts.

Crimes against women have been happening since the dawn of time. Even in sophisticated, evolved societies like the United States, there are still men who desire to take advantage of and harm women.

This is a sad reality.

Current statistics show that in the Unite States, 1 in 4 women will be assaulted in their lifetime. The majority of attacks against women are by someone that is known to the victim.

So what does this mean for you?

It means that this is NOT some terrible nightmare that is happening to women in far off places far removed from yourself. It happens in your neighborhood, to women you know, work with, go to school with, and talk with on a regular basis.

Also, most assaults go unreported to the authorities, so we cannot know for sure if the current statistics are correct, or much higher.

The point of this article is not to scare you, but to make you aware. Women are attacked daily, every hour, every few minutes. You can help to prevent yourself from being attacked, by being aware.

Self defense courses are great, they teach women to use simple physical responses to physical threats. But what happens if they never see it coming? What happens if they don’t have time to pull off a technique that they learned in a rape prevention course?

This is where it gets really scary.

A woman’s best defense against an attack is to have an awareness around them of common, probable scenarios in which attacks occur, and take preventative measures to stop them from happening.

Here are 5 tips to help keep you aware, and keep you ahead of the curve.

1. Don’t accept anything from strangers. This seems fairly simple, so simple that it gets ignored way too often. A popular television show about cops and criminals recently did an episode in which a rapist was finding his victims through giving away laced cigarettes. Most women now know that they should never accept food and drink without seeing it being made or poured, and keeping an eye on it the entire time. But what about something like a cigarette? How many times – for you smokers out there – have you needed a cigarette and gladly accepted one from a total stranger? Think about what you’re getting, who you’re getting it from, and the situation that you’re in when you accept something from a stranger.

2. Know your surroundings. If you’re going to a bar or a club, what type of neighborhood is it located in? Who will you be with? Have you been there before? Is there security? Where are the exits if you need to leave quickly? If a man tries to block your exit, can you quickly get away out another door, or can you find a bouncer to escort you out? Will you be walking through a dark alleyway to get back to your car? There are dozens of questions that you can ask yourself in any situation, and it just takes a little thought to outsmart a dumb criminal that hasn’t given his plan any real thought.

3. Use a buddy system. Most women know to go out in groups. Travel with friends. Let someone you know and trust know where you are going to be. If you’re headed out with the girls for the evening, and meet someone that you want to spend some time with, let someone know exactly where you’re going. Don’t change plans so that you wind up in a completely foreign situation, where no one knows where to find you if things go wrong.

4. Pay attention to your own schedules and rhythms in life. Are you a creature of habit? Do you stop at the same coffee shop each morning, and keep the same route to work every day? Are you as predictable as the day is long? Everyone has patterns. Another person, with just a little bit of work, can learn your patterns quickly and sometimes without being noticed at all. When I worked in security, I found that the majority of the incidents that occurred with my employees were because they were on set patterns that the crooks/vandals figured out, and knew the exact time frame they had to work in. If you are dealing with a potential stalker, how quickly can he figure out exactly where you will be and at what time? Change things up a little.

5. Watch for body language. Is someone acting a little off? Is there someone that’s paying a little too much attention to you? Can you tell that someone is up to no good, just by looking at them? Most people can see someone and know, without consciously being able to identify the reasons, that they can’t trust the person, or that they are doing something shady. Pay attention to how people are acting around you.

A lot of people will tell you that dressing provocatively and being flirtatious make you a target. This is simply pig headed rationalization on the part of idiots that don’t know enough to keep their mouths shut. If a woman dresses sexy, its no excuse to sexually assault her.

A lot of people will say that its a woman’s fault for going to a club in a bad area alone, and finding herself in a bad situation. Again, this is bull. It might not be the smartest thing that she’s done all week, but it doesn’t mean she’s at fault for someone else choosing to commit a crime.

But here’s where a woman’s responsibility lies: Protecting herself. Its true for anyone. We all have the right, and the responsibility, to protect ourselves. The police, security, and friends and family can’t always do it for us. We have to be able to take that responsibility on ourselves, and learn how to protect ourselves.

Above all else, think things through, and follow your gut. Intuition is a powerful tool to use in self defense.

Take some self defense classes, or a rape prevention course in your local community. Even if you don’t wind up being the next Bruce Lee, a little knowledge will help keep these principles in mind, and the instructors in those courses can help reinforce them.

Buy pepper spray, know how to use it. It’s one of those things that is seemingly insignificant, but keeps you aware that there are real threats out there. Also, getting pepper sprayed sucks, and if someone wants to hurt you, they deserve it.

There are many more in depth things that can be said on the topic of women knowing how to protect themselves. This is just an introduction to get the gears moving and help to raise awareness. I can’t stress enough the importance of being aware, taking classes, going to seminars, and talking with local law enforcement and self defense instructors to get a better picture of what you can do to protect yourself.