Five useful tips to keep the rapist at bay

Countless are the defilement stories recently making headlines. With the rising incidents of sexual assault and defilements that have caught the country unaware, here are some basic tips to help keep that defiler away:

Use your friends as a tool (hypothetically): Having a group of friends around you could be a great way of keeping the predators away. Walk in groups together with your friends, classmates or even roomies. Predators are intimidated by crowds. That geeky guy from your Bio class might not be the best pick to walk you home or to your hostel after a late night study session at the library. John (pseudo name) might be harmless but why risk it? After all, those corky ones are the worst ones. Sis, prevention is better than cure! Force other people’s noses into your business: Make sure at least a person or two around your block or class know your whereabouts. However petty this might sound, it could save you! Think about it, would you rather go missing and nosey-Jenny-from-the-block can account for your whereabouts, or would you rather not engage her of your whereabouts and go, go never to return?  I’d rather you indulge her nosiness and satisfy her inner craving for dirt and juice. Don’t ditch your drink: Case scenario, you walk away from your table to say hi to some long lost hot guy seated at the next table who you shunned away when you were in first year. That ship already done sailed! Countless are the times the person you asked to watch your drink as you dash to say hi, actually watches it. Sometimes they are nowhere to be seen. I mean, let a girl prosper as well. Carry your own drink to the other table where you are going to say hi. It even saves you looking cheap and like you are on a mission to extort people’s sons off their hard earned possessions. Don’t go sipping off people’s drinks- those you’ve not had within your close proximity. Drugs of any shape, size and color can be easily slipped into your drink. In the event you forget your drink, ditch it! Get another one instead. Trust your gut feeling: There’s always that sixth sense everyone allegedly has. Make use of it. It does not come with a user manual- it’s obvious. The minute you feel uncomfortable about a person or a situation, do not shove it away. That’s your sixth sense trying to warn you and chances are high that something might actually be off. Always trust your instincts about a person or a particular context. Learning how to trust your gut feeling first requires you to set boundaries. These boundaries enable you to understand what makes you uncomfortable. Use force as your last resort: They say you can run but you cannot hide. Some situations might present themselves where you clearly cannot evade the predator. In such scenarios you are forced to put your sassy classy ways aside and channel your inner Conjestina. This calls to face your attacker head on. Do not act afraid. Sometimes just some little intimidation from you could help scare the attacker away. In case your intimidation does not come through for you, here are some basic defense moves, as sourced from Lifehacker, which you could practice to help you in such times: Eyes: Gouging, poking, or scratching the attacker’s eyes with your fingers or knuckles would be effective, as you can imagine. Besides causing a lot of pain, this should also make your escape easier by at least temporarily interfering with his vision Nose: If the attacker is close in front of you, use the heel of your palm to strike up under his nose; throw the whole weight of your body into the move to cause the most pain and force him to loosen his grip on you. If he’s behind you, you can strike his nose (from the side or front) with your elbow. Either way, aim for the nasal bones. The knee is an ideal self-defense target, vulnerable from every angle and easily kicked without risk of your foot being grabbed Kick the side of the knee to cause injury or partially incapacitate your attacker. Kicking the front of the knee may cause more injury but is less likely to result in imbalance. Feign giving in: Pretend to be compliant (kind of like playing dead for a bear). In those split moments, the predator will think you have given up and will loosen his grip, giving you a chance to employ any of the above defenses to help you get away.