Learn how to protect yourself and your family

It’s hard raising children today, and it’s harder than ever to be a mother. According to Time Magazine, even stay-at-home mothers are putting in a 94.7 hour work week. Mix that with growing crime rates, and you have a recipe for anxiety.

Twenty years ago, children got on their bikes and ran the neighborhood. Some even rode all over their towns. Parents didn't worry very much about safety, because children always seemed to roll in packs, there wasn't the media spotlighting every terrible thing that happened, and there were fewer predators. Now, parents worry to let their kids in the front yards alone. Mothers worry about being attacked in the grocery store parking lot, or on a run.

It’s no wonder we’re all a little scared, and the statistics just keep right on rising. 1 in 5 women will be sexually assaulted in their lifetime. An aggravated assault occurs every 35 seconds. According to a study done by Missing Kids, There were an estimated 58,200 child victims of non-family abduction in one year.

Living in Portland doesn't help the situation. Known as the largest national hub for child sex trafficking in the nation, Portland parents hold their babies with a special tightness. The Washington Times reported that Oregon State Police encounter three to five trafficking victims per week. It’s no wonder, Portland’s legal commercial sex industry is the largest per capita in the United States according to a study by Willamette Law School’s International Human Rights Clinic.

Staying safe first means being educated about the dangers out there, and that also means learning about our attacker.

Think about training for a marathon. You would change your diet, your activities, and run to build the muscles needed for an endurance run. Your attacker is doing the same thing. They are training. Practicing. Strengthening the muscles needed for a successful attack. While you’re going about your life, they are scouting areas, purchasing tools and materials needed, and watching for the right person to come by.

Most people spend their lives in a four-foot circle. They are oblivious to what is going on around them outside that space. They might be texting, looking down, or distracted by children, coupons and store ads, focused on the music coming through t their ear buds, or talking on the phone. Their body language is often turned in, arms folded, not paying attention while loading groceries into the car.

There is up to a four second delay in your brain when the fight or flight mechanism is engaged. This means that when you realize there is imminent danger, it can take four seconds for your brain to catch up to the gravity of the situation. One-one thousand, two-one thousand, three-one thousand, four-one thousand. That is enough time to be shoved in the trunk or otherwise be completely subdued.

How do we survive? After you educate yourself, it’s time to equip yourself.........

Read the entire article here.