Prepared for Rape?

Good Morning PPG, 
I am a 47 year old mother of two and have a story that all women need to hear. Prepping has many angles. Self defense should be in the top ten; not just for strangers but people we may even know. I was attacked in my home by a friend of my husband’s (family friend). Yes I have a concealed weapon, yes I have training in self defense, and yes I have a criminal justice major and special training in law enforcement, yes to every question one would think of. HOWEVER, I am 110 pounds and was attacked by a man 240 pounds! I know everyone say‘s “I would have dug his eyes out… blah blah blah.”. I was choked from behind and fought and sexually assaulted. I was then choked and passed out (praying the entire time God would protect me) as I came to I was being drenched in lighter fluid! All I could think of is my 5 month old baby sleeping in the next room… we were both going to die. After he realized I came to… he picked up some video tapes and left my house and said thank you for the tapes! I was within a match of being set on fire. It made me realize how vulnerable we can be, not only should we protect ourselves from strangers but sad to say friends as well. 911 is for them to investigate who murdered you… their not coming to save you! I live in a very rural county and we have one officer working the county… and three homicide detectives on call at all times, it kind of tell its own story! Our 911 system is a high tech called ID and doesn't give the address were calling from… I know this after we had a small fire from an electric fence and one of our pastures.
I now carry in my home as well and have several weapons stashed around my home. My son who is now 10 also has several weapons (knives) he has access to in case of emergency! The illusions that we’re safe in our home are just that. We tend to let our guard down when it comes to people we know, #1 mistake. I don’t live paranoid, I know live safe; I evaluate each situation and were I place people in my home and tell no one about my stash of weapons around the home! In a shift situation we pretty much know who our enemies are… train in your home practice scenarios of all types of intruders including family and friends! If we only practice for crimes that happen after a shift situation then were forgetting one thing, we have to make it to the shift situation. My assaulter was given 10 years probation and mental health therapy… I realized after the attack, that I had to train myself beyond self defense I had to train harder because of my size! I might at 110 lbs small and 5’3 but I train like a fighter everyday! Mentally and physically be prepared… size matters in a fight and in a shift situation it’s going to be 10 times harder to survive! 
As we prep the biggest threat we face is the unknown, will we be alone, who will be with us and will we be safe with that person? These are all the questions we have to ask ourselves, because in a SHTF situation people are going to be thinking and acting differently. I remember after Katrina reading about police raping and robbing women. Well that’s the reality of when SHTF; I call it a SHIFT because it will shift from what we know as normal to the unknown SHTF; so it’s SHIFT SHTF! 

After my rape, I realized training would have to be different. Scenarios are the key, when you desensitize yourself your fight or flight mode changes; we all have the fight or flight mode so don’t kid yourself on that one. Rape is probably one of the most devastating things that could happen in a SHTF situation because not only are you traumatized from the act there is pregnancy, and STDS which you could also face; being willing to take people into your home when SHTF should be weighted carefully. 

Scenario training is a must! When we train for specific things we tend to react to the situation and think of the reaction it’s not a spontaneous reaction! Train in your home, train for intruders, train for everything! Weapons don’t always mean deadly weapons, sometimes in certain situation you wouldn't want a lethal weapon in a hand to hand combat; small pocket knives can also get a person off you and give you time to get to your lethal weapon if that how you choose to deal with the situation. But if you don’t practice then you will not know how to react. If you would train for emergency situations with medical preps, then make sure you prep for attack scenarios. If you have children would you want your children to hide during an attack, run away during an attack or help fight during the attack? These are questions you have to ask yourself and answer because children will freeze in a situation if not trained properly. 

Training with fire arms is great but do you want your child trying to shoot someone attacking you? I always get a giggle when I tell people my son is deadly with a sock with marbles in it... I promise that person would be knocked out in a flash! So practice with non lethal weapons also. My son always says he would shoot someone who tried to hurt me... I really don’t want that on his hands to deal with; but the reality is our children have to learn also. But the repercussions will be traumatic for a child, and we must take that into consideration. I say train train, train, be prepared as much as possible, we can’t imagine every situation but we can desensitize ourselves to some scenarios such as rape, home invasions and gang situations.
I recently saw as I am sure most of you did the woman attacked in her home while her child sat on the couch with a pillow over her face; as the mother was attacked and beaten by an African American man. Many of you said to yourself “I would have ______” you fill in the blank. Did you see the size of that guy? Did you see how easy it was for him to brag her around and handle her like she was a doll? That’s because he had an adrenaline rush while he was breaking the door down, and then it probably increased when he entered the home. What would you have done? Personally, I would have had a lethal weapon close enough to react when he entered the home! But it’s a good scenario to practice because obviously she was not prepared for what happened; perhaps if she had a weapon on the stairway when he threw her down the basement. Train people, read different situation on robberies happen, rape happen, home invasions happen. 

And then the aftermath of a rape, while we live in a world where we can go to therapy and try to over comes this attack; what support would you have after a SHTF? Most people will need some sort of support! Do you have spiritual support? Do you have books on traumatic incidents like rape? And what about pregnancy are you prepared for that after a rape? Most rapists are not going to stop to use a condom that’s just the reality! STD’s what about them some are life threatening; do you have preps for them?These are all things to think about and talk to your loved ones about. Make sure you talk with your husband or wife about these situations. Today prepare and practice scenarios in which these situations could happen! I hope and pray I have helped even if it was in a small way!