Disempowering Habits?

~ Apurva Dev

Many of us are not aware that we contributing to unwanted situations by unwittingly adopting certain habits that can invite danger:

1.   Thinking that everyone around you is good and will not harm or take advantage of you. Approximately 80 % of rapes are committed by someone known to the victim.

2.   Ignoring your own intuition and gut feeling regarding a situation, or a certain person.

3.   Trying to project an air of detachment, and looking like you do not care about what happening around.

Calling for help: what’s the most effective way?

~ Apurva Dev

Most often, women or girls who are being physically assaulted resort to using words such as ‘HELP!’ and ‘RAPE!’ to reach out for help to those around them. Scientific studies have shown, however, that phrases such as help tend to be difficult to hear from long distances, and sound like “EL!” and “REY!” when heard from afar. ‘P’, being a stop consonant, does not allow for elongation of the word, therefore decreasing the likelihood of being heard.

In such situations, where the nearest help is quarter-mile away, FIRE is the best word to use. Normal lung capacity coupled with the surge of adrenaline that accompanies a frightening circumstance can result in the call for “FIRE” being heard from large distances. Fire affects everyone, and neighbors will immediately come out to extinguish the fire. Moreover, in our sadly misogynistic society, the danger of a fire is given more weight than a cry for help by a woman.