Think It Won’t Happen To You?

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Everyone’s heard stories of men being mugged, or women or children being kidnapped or raped. But nobody thinks it will happen to them. Until it does.

Working at a retail store in the local mall, one of Denise J.’s duties included depositing the money from the till. This was done each night after closing the store at 10pm, and the bank was across the street from the mall. Worse, the deposit drop box was behind the bank, away from the street lights. Usually, the coworkers walked in pairs and encountered other mall employees also doing their deposits, but one night, Denise was alone – she doesn’t remember why.

Even though it was a dark but clear night, Denise didn’t notice the two young men in dark clothing until she was almost at the deposit box. One pulled out what looked like a knife and began walking towards her. Denise screamed, dropped the money, pulled out her pepper spray, and sprayed the advancing man. He screamed, clutched his eyes, and almost fell over as Denise ran away.

She ran to a nearby friend’s house where her friend called the police.

Denise was lucky, although she doesn’t think so. Many young women are not as prepared and could have been hurt or raped in this situation. And this situation could happen to a lot of young women, because there are many jobs which require young people to work alone and with large enough amounts of money to make them targets. Even young men are not automatically safe from being mugged.

What can be done? Stores and banks need to work together to make it safer for these young employees. Keeping the money safe should not be a higher priority than keeping people’s lives safe. And everyone should make safer choices when walking at night, such as:

1. Always walk in pairs. While this is not instant protection against attack, it does add an element of safety. For Denise, while there was no other employee available, she could have asked the security guard at the mall to accompany her, or asked employees at other stores to wait and go at the same time.

2. Stay in well-lit areas. If you must go into isolated areas, don’t go alone.

The world should be a safe place for everyone, but unfortunately, it isn’t. Take steps to protect yourself by being aware and prepared.

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