Here’s a statement I hear often: “What about a random attack, there’s no way ever to be prepared”. Well, that’s NOT TRUE. To believe that means you are willing to accept your fate at the hands of the attacker and that a person has no control over their own safety.
First understand an attack can be incidents such as: a physical assault, inappropriate touching, attempted abduction, bullying etc.
Most attacks, whether it’s by a trusted adult, acquaintance, friend, school bully, or stranger follow a very predictable pattern. Once you understand the “Patterns of an Attack” you will realize that you do have control over preventing an attack.
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- The first stage of an attack is Selection. Attackers want to find someone who they think will be an easy target- unsupervised, unattended, alone, unaware, overly trusting etc.
- The second stage of an attack is to create a Position of Advantage. The attacker needs a position of advantage by getting close to the victim.
- The third stage of an attack is Domination. The attacker dominates the targeted victim by humiliating them, hurting them, touching or taking personal items.
- The fourth stage of attack is Escape. The perpetrator wants to get away so that they can repeat the the pattern against the same or new victim. With children as the victim, the perpetrator will use methods such as embarrassment, secrecy and blame, etc. to set the stage for a repeat of the process on the child.
Any thoughts, comments, questions etc. ?
Sensei Gregg Stevenson
