Safety in the City Pt. 2 – Parking Lots

Please note that we are NOT the original writers of this blog post. All credit goes to the original writers. Find the original post as published at this link: http://invictaselfdefense.blogspot.com/2013/05/safety-in-city-pt-2-parking-lots.html

I have had a couple of women ask me about what to do in parking lots when they need to get to their car at the end of the night. As a girl, I know that walking into your car when it’s dark and there aren’t many people around can be a pretty nerve-wracking experience, and can definitely be highly stressful. Many women know the fundamentals about safety, but I’ll include a few ideas that might make you feel safer: 

• If possible, have security escort you to your car. I know this sounds overly obvious, but a lot of women tend to shy away from actually doing this out of the worry they’re bothering the safety guards or because they believe that they are being silly and that they should not need to ask staff to escort them everywhere. Again, this is a mentality that lots of women need to move away from. We are the only ones in charge of our security, and we most definitely are not bothering security guards whose job it is to provide security. Ask nicely, and it shouldn’t be a problem. You might have to wait a couple of minutes if they are busy, but I’d always rather wait a few minutes and be escorted with peace of mind than to venture out alone in a dark parking lot if it is unnecessary. If there are no security guards around, see if a friend or feminine co-worker can walk with you to your vehicle. If you’re alone, you could always enlist another girl to walk in the general direction of your car, or to stand by the door and make sure that you get to your car securely. . .obviously in an effort to avoid being run over). However, when you’re walking through a parking lot on your own and there are not many people around, resist this urge and try to walk in the middle of the rows. Predators rely on surprise so as to get control of their victims, so if anybody is waiting for you behind a car, they’ll need to jump from the cars to the center of the lot, giving you time to react and to hopefully run to safety. 
• Have your keys out and ready before you even walk into the parking lot. Having to spend some time fumbling through your purse means an easy target and that you’re distracted. 
• Fake a telephone call – Another great tactic is to take out your phone and fake a phone call to a husband, boyfriend or male friend. “Oh, you’re just at the end of the parking lot? Great, I am walking to my car so I’ll meet you. Well, I am not surprised, you’re the biggest guy on the team!” If anybody is in earshot, it will deter them if they think that somebody else is around (especially if that someone is the largest person on their soccer team). You always want to give the illusion that you aren’t alone, whether you fake a phone call, or call out to an imaginary person in the end of the parking lot, or even if you wave back at someone who you are pretending is watching you.
• Walk with purpose, be alert – Keep your head up, your eyes alert, your hands free (that means phone in your pocket or purse), and your ears open (no iPods). That your intuition has data Take advantage of your perceptions. Additionally, once you’re walking, make sure that you do so with your shoulders back and that you’re walking with confidence and purpose. You want to project how confident and strong you are, which will make you less likely to be targeted. 
•  Park beneath a light, and as close to the door as you can – Again, this is to minimize your vulnerability. Darkness is the predator’s ally, since it means that they can move more easily without being detected. 
  

• Avoid back, side, or secluded exits where possible – attempt to use the main entrance, since it will have the most visitors, and will ordinarily be monitored by safety cameras. 

Wear comfortable shoes – in the even that you need to run, having sensible shoes can make a significant difference. Moreover, the clacking sound of a pair of high heels in an echoing, empty parking lot is a direct sensory sign that you are a woman by herself. Certainly not the sign we want to send.  Being in a state of constant anxiety actually dulls our intuitive senses; be smart, follow the tips that I have listed above, but most importantly, listen to your senses:

• Can you hear anyone (footsteps, breathing, soft talking, music playing, etc)? 
  

• Do you see anyone (shadows moving, reflections on surfaces, a pair of feet behind a car)?
• Do you smell anything (perfume, deodorant, fresh laundry from clothing, food)? 
• Is there a legitimate cause for concern that your intuition has picked up on with your senses, or are you worried because you are by yourself, it’s dark and you’re in a parking lot? 

Learning to listen to a listen to your intuition and to develop your intuitive senses should actually be a very freeing experience, and will instruct you to let go of unfounded anxieties and concerns. Again, you should always be mindful of your surroundings, take precautions to reduce your risk and be smart in your decisions, but to be on high anxiety all the time when it is unfounded is simply unnecessary, a waste of time, and only serves to reinforce your fears and anxieties.