Every day there are at least 100 victims of violent crime across the United States.
These crimes range from armed robbery, aggravated assault, murder, and forcible rape. These statistics are based on information compiled by the United States Department of Justice. These are only the crimes that are reported. It is a known fact that many violent crimes are never reported, and many of these crimes are committed by repeat offenders. In many cases these statistics are the result of a lack of education on the part of the victims. Although it is not entirely fair to say that the ignorance of the victims caused a justified attack; It should be noted that many of these cases could have been prevented with proper education or training.
Part of being educated or trained is being aware and understanding the context of the situation around you. If you look up the definition of “awareness” in the dictionary, you’ll read “awareness is the act of being aware.” The dictionary does not complete the definition in the context in which it should be understood. Awareness is also an awareness of the situation around you. Being aware alone is not enough to save you in dire straits. You also need an understanding in the context of the situation. In many cases, that ability to analyze and understand the situation around you comes naturally. However, there are those who do not naturally analyze or question the world around them. These cases need training.
Many people do not follow their natural senses, do not listen or read the signs around them. There are many cases where if someone had listened to her instinct, she could have avoided that “not so good” situation. When we are born, we all come equipped with natural survival senses. However, over time with good breeding and proper grooming; we tend to desensitize our own natural security system. Hundreds and even thousands of years ago, man needed natural survival instincts to forage for food and protect himself from natural and man-made hazards. With the society we have become for hundreds of years; life has become easier with less obvious threats coming our way. In a world where everything we want or need is within reach of a phone or keyboard, we have very little use of our own natural senses. That is not to say that these senses are out of touch or out of reach. Just like you as a person, these senses just need preparation and training to grow and flourish.
The first part to understand is that this world is not a friendly place. That doesn’t mean you should walk the earth like some paranoid freak; that just means you need to learn and understand the nature of the world. The world, whether you live in the city or in the country, the desert or the jungle, is a desert. In the wilderness, survival is the general rule and a way of life. In the desert there are predators and prey, wolves and sheep per say. The wolf will never attack another wolf, unless it is a matter of life and death or self defense. In general, wolves always attack sheep. This is because the sheep are defenseless and weak. Sheep are an easy meal. The sheep spend all day grazing and wandering the fields, completely unsuspecting. The perfect victim. How many times have you been out shopping and noticed other consumers wander aimlessly, mindlessly, in and out of stores without knowing what is going on around them? The next time you go shopping take note. Most people are so caught up in their own lives that they don’t notice everything that’s going on around them. For a criminal this is the sight of opportunity.
The ideal victim would be in an isolated area with limited visibility. They would be alone and would walk with their heads bowed to the ground without knowing what is going on around them. For the most part, the victim would be old and frail or young and female. In each case, the victim would be weak and helpless. They would give the impression of unconsciousness, observed from afar. The example; just given are the traits and characteristics of an ideal victim for a common criminal or thug. At the opposite end of perspective; a common criminal would not think of attacking someone more alert and capable in appearance. The things common criminals or thugs deviate from are just the opposite of what we just explained. Someone who is more alert, head on a spin, always aware of what is going on around them. The person who walks around confident and proud and gives the “don’t mess with me” look. Location is a key. Most bad guys won’t attack someone in broad daylight in a heavily populated area. The bad guys definitely don’t want to mess with someone who is healthy and looking fit, or someone who looks like they could put up a tough fight. In many situations it is their first impressions that separate those who are victims from those who are not.
In many violent crimes, the assailant is someone the victim is familiar with or knows. Often the victim is not only a victim of the violent crime, but also a victim of the bullying. It’s not the victim’s fault, it’s just that most people don’t know when they’re prey to a violent predator or stalker. They are not educated or trained on what or how to do. Often times, when a victim is being stalked, she minimizes the situation and tells herself, “I’m just being stalked.” or “It’s harmless.” This minimization allows one thing to lead to another, until escalation leads to disaster. Sometimes the disaster is final. In many cases, the signals were ignored; resulting in serious injury to the victim or death. Then there are the cases where the victim has seen the signs and done everything they could be expected to do, to the point where there is a physical confrontation between the victim and the predator. In many of these cases the victim was not trained in self-protection measures. Then there are the few cases where the victim has gone to great lengths to protect themselves from it. In these cases death is rare. That is because of the analogy of the sheep and the wolf. The victim raised a difficult meal. The wolf is forced to move on because the victim caused too much undue attention; or they fought hard or efficiently enough to make the attacker think twice and back off.
In any case, it is clear that training and awareness is what differentiates those who are victims from those who are not. In the cases where there were victims, it was “too late to help” In the cases where there were no victims, security measures were applied and what could have happened did not happen. Then there are the cases where that never happened, because the “potential” victim was aware of the situation and knew how to apply the proper security measures. You have to wonder what you’re going to do when it’s too late. Are you going to be a victim or are you going to avoid the situation altogether?