A Guide For Single Women Living Alone

If you are a woman, you have experienced an act of sexual abuse, catcalling, or groping at least once in your lifetime. And if you are a man, you have heard women in your life talk about abuse at least once. While there are efforts worldwide to make the nations safe for women, there is still a long way to go. According to a recent report on global violence against women, it was found that around 736 million women, which is about one in every three women, were subjected to violence by someone in their lifetime. And these stats are without including the victims of sexual harassment.

The numbers are indeed alarming and surprisingly are increasing every year rather than declining. It is no wonder that women do not feel safe venturing out alone at night or, for that fact, even living alone. While there are numerous efforts underway to make the world a better or rather a safe place for women, that is still a distant dream. And most women would agree that they would try to embrace safeguarding techniques rather than wait in the hope that things would eventually fall in place, and they would live in a world with no violence against women.

If you are a single woman or live alone, the struggle is all so familiar to you. The constant worry, double-checking everything around the house, making sure there is no intruder, and ensuring that you are safe is an endless battle. And sadly, this has nothing to do with the person’s socio-economic, geography, or educational background. If you are a woman who is living alone and want to protect yourself, here are a few tips that you could follow.

Be Prepared

Knowing how to protect yourself is important. You need to have the skills and capabilities to defend yourself in case there is an intruder in your home. Besides the skills, it would also help if you have the equipment needed to defend yourself. Most of the break-ins and threats from intruders happen at night. And it is important for you to act instantly rather than take the time and think. If you need to run to your cupboard to bring your gun, pepper spray, or knife to defend yourself, you are already fighting a losing battle.

So, how could you save yourself? The new-age trend that is catching up is a holster for your bed! Yes, you read that right, just the way you can carry your pepper spray or gun around during the day with a holster in your dress, you could get one for your bed. The team behind https://dinosaurized.com/pages/morpheus explained that a holster would make it easy for you to act fast in case of an attack. As most acts of violence against women are by someone they know, it is important to have your self-defense equipment readily available. For instance, if your attacker is your partner, you have help handy as the holster has everything you need at your arm’s distance.

Pick A Safe Location

When you are moving to a new city or new home, make sure you scrutinize the area for its safety. Understand the neighborhood before signing the rental agreement or leasing the property. You could look up the crime index and the crime against women in your region to see how safe the locality is for single women.

You could visit your local police department’s website to get a heatmap on the crime rate in your region. Use this as a deciding factor while looking for a home. Embrace the age-old approach of prevention is better than cure and take measures to prevent housebreaking. If you are planning on moving to a whole new country, you should check if the country finds a mention in the list of the safest countries in the world.

Carry A Pepper Spray

While most countries allow owning a gun for self-defense and protection, not all countries do. So, what could you do at times like that? Well, you need to find alternatives like a pepper spray that could come in handy by temporarily blinding your intruder. As pepper sprays are handy, you could carry one everywhere and use it to defend yourself round the clock. However, be careful because if you accidentally injure someone or use it out of rage, it could invite legal action in a few countries. So, make sure to use the pepper spray only as an act of self-defense. A recent survey found that most women in the US found pepper spray to be an effective self-defense tool because it is not lethal and does not have any long-lasting side effects.

According to research by the Statista Research Department in 2019, around one-quarter of the female realtors carried pepper spray around in the US as a self-defense tool. Most pepper sprays have a typical range of around ten feet, and the effect of it could last for anything around 15 minutes to an hour. This means you could attack your intruder as soon as you spot them, and it would give you ample time to run away or wait for the cops to arrive before the intruder can attack you again.

Invest In Home Security

We do not mean that you should hire a security agency or a guard to be there at your beck and call. Instead, you could embrace technology and let it do the job. Set up cameras, intruder alarms, and sensors for your doors and windows. You could control all of these from your smartphone and be hands-on when it comes to knowing all that is going on in your house. The control panel on the device and your phone let you access all the checkpoints in and around your home.

Besides that, you should also set up security signs on the yard and windows. This would prevent burglars and intruders from trying to break into your home. While it would be nice to catch an intruder or a burger red-handed, it would be nicer not to have to deal with a situation like that. So, always go for the security signs and boards that the home security team providers you with. Recent research on around four burgers found that the signboards were among the top ten elements they looked for before breaking into a home.

Do Not Make It Obvious

Intruders are always looking for easy targets. Nobody wants to get into a fight with a house full of people. So, if it is obvious that you are alone, you will end up making yourself an easy target. Do not advertise or mention to strangers that you are living alone. Besides that, when you are at home, make it look like other people live there with you.

One way to do this is to have the television running and have the lights on in multiple rooms. Burglars would want to avoid your home for the fact that there could be multiple people living there. Besides, nobody wants to try their trade around a well-lit home where they could be easily spotted. You could also try inviting your trusted bunch of friends over often to make it seem like your home is not in an isolated location and that you have frequent visitors.

Make Friends In The Neighborhood

This is an age-old trick to make sure you and your home are safe at all times. When you are friendly and have a healthy relationship, the neighbors can keep a watchful eye on your home. They are bound to spot anomalies and look out for you when suspicious behavior or new people in the neighborhood.

Even if there is an intruder in your home, they could tip off the police and call you help while you are trying to defend yourself. So, make sure you are on good terms with everyone in the community. Go on, introduce yourself and make some friends. It would help you settle into the new neighborhood and also make sure you are safe!

Trust Your Instincts

In most cases, a lot of accidents, thefts, and attacks can be avoided when you exercise common sense. All you need to do is trust your instincts, and if something seems wrong, it probably is. So, do not second guess yourself and go with your intuition. Take common precautions and never tell a stranger where you live. If you feel that you are being followed or watched, alert the local authorities.

Besides that, always make it a point to stop strangers at your doorstep. Never let any unnecessary person into your home. And if you need to let a stranger in, make sure you see their Photo ID and let your neighbors or your loved ones know who is visiting you. It will also help if you leave the doors and windows locked at all times. While it is a good idea to have a dog at home for your security, do not have a dog door. Most burglars and intruders tend to use kids to sneak into your home through the doggie door and then, with their help, gain access into your property.

Secure All Entrances

The garage, the fire exit, the chimney (if you have one), just like the doggie door, could pose a potential threat to your safety. So, make sure they are locked at all times. It would help if you could have motion sensor alarms installed at all these places besides having lights that detect movements too. That way, you would be alerted every time someone makes a move.

Besides that, it would also help if you put additional screws on your doors and windows to make them sturdier. That way, even if someone tries to break in, they would fail. This would leave you and your home safe from any intrusion.

Be Friends With the Cops

It always helps to be on the good side with the cops. So, find out who is on the local beat in your region and try to be on good terms with them. Knowing that you have legal aid to fall back on in case of an emergency would always add to your confidence. Besides, intruders keep a vigil on your home before the break-in, and they are bound to find out if you are on good terms with the cops, and that would keep them away from even wanting to try.

Update The Devices

Use modern technology to stay up to date with all the advancements in home security. Have all your electronic devices updated constantly? This would ensure that there is not a thing that would miss your eye. Intruders and burglars tend to look for homes that have outdated systems and equipment because they are probably not working anymore. So, make sure you have the latest security system in place, and it is well-advertised. Did you know that planting a US flag in front of your home could help you too? Many burglars avoid homes with the US flag because there is a possibility of a veteran living there and having a firearm.

Avoid Social Media

Well, we do not mean that you should deactivate all your social media accounts. Instead, the key is to use it with caution. Do not advertise or post all your moves, your location, and, more specifically, your vacation plans. You do not want people to know that you are going to be away and that your home would have no one guarding it. So, be wary of what you post on social media and avoid sharing personal information as much as possible.

In the society that we live in today, it is normal to feel intimidated and unsafe. However, remember that following these simple tips will ensure that you are not in trouble and that your home is safe from intruders. While we hope for a better tomorrow where the safety of single women isn’t a massive concern, we need to continue taking precautions. So, here’s hoping that you have a safe and happy life!