Empowering Students Campus Safety

What is empowering students campus safety? As another new year has just begun, we will see more and more people heading off to universities. Let’s face it can be overwhelming as you start a new phase in your life. Maybe you’ll be moving to a new state or even living alone for the first time and experiencing a new sense of freedom! Remember just like on the street or going out partying, with your friends. You still need to remain just as vigilant with your personal safety at university.

UNDERSTANDING THE RISKS

It’s unfortunate that students may become targets for criminals and predators. Which is not what students want to think about while furthering their education. Just like on the street  a perpetrator is looking for an easy target.

So, a young person in a new city, living away from home, distracted by all sites and generally paying no attention to their own safety or showing off high end accessories . Are exactly what these perpetrators are looking for. Here is Australia the majority of uni students live off campus, but if you decide to live in rented student accommodation. Make sure your building, windows and doors have tight security.

A survey in Australia found that in 2021 the NSSS (National Student Safety Survey) showed 275 students were assaulted every week in university settings. This amounts to more than 8,500 to date in 2023. This is a worldwide problem that is not only affecting women but also men.

LIVING ON CAMPUS SAFETY (empowering students campus safety )

If you are living in Halls of Residence on campus and sharing a room with others girl’s. Know that now you are living away from your parents,  you will need to change your mindset in order to keep your belongings and yourself as safe as possible. While we all want to think that other people on campus don’t want to cause us harm or won’t resort to criminal behaviour. Unfortunately this is not the case. It’s likely that you will cross paths with someone who would not think twice about stealing your laptop or books if it is left unattended.

Items like textbooks and laptops are one of the most common items stolen on college campuses. As these items are expensive and if left unattended. Someone may be more tempted to take it. A lot of students do not want to write their name on books. As this reduces its value if you choose to sell them back to the college or university at the end of the year or semester. This however makes them easier to steal. Think about buying or renting electronic copies is one way of reducing the risk of having your books stolen. This is the importance of university awareness to action.

A good habit to get into is avoid leaving your books and computer unattended e.g getting coffee or going to the bathroom. It may not seem like a big deal right?  But remember a perpetrator only needs a few minutes to take off with your belongings.

BREAK INS ON CAMPUS  (empowering students campus safety)

The majority of break ins on campus residents generally happen because somebody has left an external door unlocked. You don’t do this at home, so don’t do it there. Even though, it may appear convenient, however as a personal safety and security scenario it is a massive risk.  As it creates the perfect opportunity for any would be thief.

The same rule should apply in your dorm room. Regardless whether you are just stepping out for a minute or showering. It is essential to keep your door locked, and never leave it propped open. This allows anyone walking past open to look inside and check if the room is occupied or not. This gives them easy access to your belongings.

OFF CAMPUS LIVING

Most people live in shared accommodation. This greatly helps with reducing costs while getting through university. Here is some helpful tips.

• One problem that you could occur is that your bedroom door may not have a lock on it. This would mean that your roommate could access your belongings with ease. Remember roommate’s would get familiar with your schedule. I would highly recommend that you never leave money in your room. Especially when you’re not there. No matter how friendly your roommates appear. If you are sharing with people you are unfamiliar with, it is better to be safe than sorry.

• If the house is girls only, you should be careful not to broadcast this around campus. Or by making sure your full name or others is not shown on the mailbox. It be a better idea to use your first initial, and your last name, so that your mailbox is gender neutral. Another tip which I actually taught to my mum after dad died. Was to give the illusion of male occupancy, was leave an old pair of workmen’s boot or sneakers on the front door. Is a great deterrent.

 

• When you first show interest in a property, ask about security measures around house and if not see if can be made more secure. Also make sure large plants, trees, and bushes are pruned in order to stop someone hiding their presence. If a  burglar could easily be seen if they were to try and break in, it is likely they will choose another property.

DETERRENTS FOR UNIVERSITY ( empowering students campus safety )

 

It’s common knowledge that most  burglaries take place during the day, when everybody is out. Burglars are not interested in running into people, and recognize that it may take them some time to go through a property and get everything they want.

THE BIGGEST DETERRENTS 

1. Signs that someone is home (leave a light or tv on)

2. A dog

3. Security alarm

All of these things can be faked. If you a share house, the odds that  schedules match are very slim. When you are not home, leave a radios tuned to different stations or a tv left on  in different parts of the house, as this creates the illusion of occupancy. A dog bowl on the front porch, and a sticker on a front window stating that the property is alarmed, may well be enough for a burglar to select another property, rather than yours. Also if you know you will not be home until late. Leave the porch light on and a inside light on as a deterrent. These is the best tips for empowering students campus safety ) 

WHAT ARE THE TYPES OF CRIMES AT UNIVERSITY

• Burglary – stealing someone’s valuable possessions such as laptops, phones or money

• Phone snatching – Someone may snatch or even threaten students with headphones or who are not paying attention to their surroundings.

• Bike theft – A large amount of the student body using bikes to get to and from campus.

• Assault – can be during a party, disagreement between students due to alcohol and drugs

• Sexual assault and rape – The scary reality is that this type of crime at university are usually committed by someone known to the victim.

SELF DEFENCE

Look into taking a martial art or self defence class, either before or after you start university. A lot of universities around the world offer programs for women across different campuses. Check with your campus to see if this is available.

Here at women aware defence we want you to be educated with as much information as you can. In order to keep you safe, not only in life but also when starting university.  Just taking a few precautions and stay situational aware. This gives you the best chance of avoiding or surviving a potential attack. Be your own hero by empowering students campus safety 

FOLLOW YOUR INTUITION 

Learning to trust your gut instinct is one of the most important skills we can learn. I taught this to my sons from when they were 5 and use to refer to it as their spidey sense. Many people think self defence is an only about punching, kicking or martial arts.  Self defence is learning pre attack skills, psychology of attackers and how attacks happen, avoiding dangerous situations and having the physical skills should you need it. As the saying goes “It is better to have a skill and not need it, then need it and not have it

WHAT DOES YOUR GUT INSTINCT FEEL LIKE?

• A weird uneasy feeling in your stomach or butterflies

• Goosebumps on your arms

• Tightness in your chest

• Heart beating faster

• A feeling of dread or anxiety.

WHAT CAN I DO TO STAY SAFE?

• • Research crime hot spots in the area (Accommodation & Campus)

  • Safe taxi schemes and night bus routes

  • Keep a copy of all your important documents e.g. passport, driving licence, insurance,   bank accounts and emergency numbers.

  • Be vigilant think about where you are going, with whom and how you will get home.

  • Make sure your phone is fully charged with emergency contacts. Carry cash for a taxi in case your purse is lost or stolen and keep it safe place on your body.  Have taxi numbers or Uber in your phone or pre-book.

MORE TIPS 

• • Do not get drunk as you are less likely to pay attention to your surroundings and this could put you in a dangerous situation. Never walk home drunk, you will have lower inhibitions and making you an easy target for a criminal or predator.

  • Watch out for drink spiking  and, as tempting as it is, don’t accept drinks from strangers. Read   Drink Spiking Awareness for more details

  • Universities just like the street has crime – attacks, robberies and rapes are reported every year at universities. And many more are never reported because people feel shame afterwards.

  • Don’t go out alone at night – arrange to meet friends and stay with a group.

  • Stay in well-lit areas with other people around. Don’t take shortcuts and never go through a park at night.

  • Don’t wear earplugs or use your mobile phone while walking on the street – concentrate on what and who is around you.

  • Don’t leave your bike unattended and unlocked – even for 5 minutes. Many crimes are not planned and are committed by opportunists who spot an easy target and go for it.

STAY UPDATED (empowering students campus safety )

1. Campus Watch – leading universities are setting up Campus Watch schemes, which are similar to Neighbourhood Watch. Find out if your university has one and get involved. If your university doesn’t have one, ask them to consider setting it up.

2. University-run safety schemes.

3. Local police partnerships.

4. Campus self defence programs

SECURE YOUR PLACE OF RESIDENCE 

Burglaries are rife in rented student housing – avoid this upsetting crime by taking precautions.

1. Ensure your rented accommodation is secure. If the windows and doors don’t lock properly or aren’t in a fit state, demand that they are fixed or replaced.

2. Ask if you can fit an additional lock or bolt on your room or inside the accommodation if you don’t feel safe.

3. If your property has a garden, yard or gate, make sure it has a padlock on it and that you use it!

4. Always lock your windows and doors when you go out – and make sure your roommates do too! This sounds obvious but around 50% of student burglaries are due to windows or doors being left open or unlocked.

5. Hide valuable items out of sight within your room. Be creative and find a random place for them.

6. Don’t leave anything of value in your student property during holidays.

7. Don’t flaunt your jewellery around campus.

8. Get insurance for high-value items.

9. Take photographs of your high-value items, especially your bike and anything with serial numbers etc.

TAKE SELF DEFENCE OR TRAIN IN MARTIAL ARTS (empowering students campus safety )

We hope that you will never find yourself in a situation where you need to defend yourself physically. If you do then you will need to use your own judgement as to how to respond. For example, if someone is trying to steal your bag and is threatening you – give them the bag. Or even better, throw the bag away from them and you, and run.

Don’t get into an unnecessary fight over property – it can be replaced but you can’t!

THE 5 STEP PREDATOR PROCESS

It would be in our best interest to understand how these individuals think. By doing a lot of research I discovered they follow a five step process. Once we understand how it operates. Then we can use it to predict, prevent, identify, and avoid.  The process is simple and is as follows:

• 1. Choose a location
• 2. Select a victim
• 3. Carry out surveillance on victim
• 4. Synchronize movement with victim
• 5. Interview victim

VICTIM SELECTION PROCESS (university awareness to action)

In 1984 Betty Grayson and Morris Stein conducted an experiment in New York. They set up a video camera, and filmed people walking along a street. Then showing prisoners too identify who from the video they would select as a victim. They found that 87% agreed who they would select as a victim. And the process took no longer than 5 seconds to complete.

It was concluded by the research that three factors came into play.  Which marked these people as potential victims. These were:

• 1. Walking with the head down, and the eyes pointed at the ground
• 2. A stride length that was too short or too long, relative to their height
• 3. A disconnect between the way a person’s body’s top half and bottom half moved

MORE  INFORMATION 

If you are walking with your eyes pointing at the ground, you are not going to see what is going on around you. Keeping your mind focused on your surroundings and not worrying about deadlines for lectures. Walking this way shows a lack or confidence and more submissive .

If you shuffle – your stride length is too short for your height – you are going to give off further signals of depression and lack of self-worth. Muggers will admit that they have targeted people in expensive suits and wearing expensive jewellery and watches. As becomes quick cash once they sell these items.

This study is a great help in explaining how we can avoid becoming a potential target. If we  walk with our heads up, with a natural stride length, in a coordinated manner, it is likely that we won’t attract the attention of those who mean us harm. To do this, we need to spend some time cultivating and checking this manner of walking. When we adopt this way of thinking we will become a less desirable target. Remember a perpetrator wants a compliant victim. Not one that is going to fight back and make it difficult. This doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t be vigilant, rather that we should look to develop defense in depth.

SURVEILLANCE

Once a predator has selected a victim, they will want to make sure that they have identified the right individual. In Grayson & Stein’s study, the prisoners took no longer than 5 seconds to identify who moved like a “victim”. It is my belief that they identified who they would target almost immediately, but then possibly took a few seconds to watch these individuals, to make sure that they had selected the right person.

Be aware of who has taken an intense interest in you. Eye contact can be brief, or it can be prolonged. If you catch somebody who seems to be watching you, take a mental note of their face, and what they look like (if you want to be thorough about it, also take a note of their shoes – it’s a good way to confirm if it’s the same person at a later date, as people change the shoes they wear much less frequently than their clothes), if you see them again in a relatively short period of time, it may be worth altering or mixing up your routine, so that you are not in the same places at the same time, on certain days. This can be as simple as taking a slightly longer route to a lecture, rather than the one you regularly take.

AWARENESS TO ACTION UNIVERSITY

When you walk, walk on the side of the road that allows you to see oncoming traffic. If your head is up, you should be able to note cars that slow down as they approach you, and then note if you see this car again. If this is the case make your way immediately a place of safety, which usually means heading to crowded and busy places.

This is a good piece of advice to follow at all times, however it is especially relevant if you are walking home late at night (regardless of whether you are walking with a friend). Walking on this side of the street will also prevent anyone from pulling up behind you. Many predators will prowl the streets, both on foot and in cars, when the bars close, looking for potential victims, either to mug, pick pockets or sexually assault. A face or car that you keep seeing, should be taken as a warning sign.

SYNCHRONISATION OF MOVEMENTS

If someone intends to mug or assault you, they must first get close enough to you, to be able to do this. When people talk about being situationally aware, they may not actually understand what this involves from a practical standpoint i.e. what is it that you need to be aware of? What are the things you should be looking out for?

Part of Situational Awareness involves understanding what is natural and unnatural in your environment e.g. is a person’s clothing appropriate for the location (is everybody except one person wearing formal business attire)? Is a person’s clothing appropriate for the weather, why is someone wearing a long coat on a warm day?

In short though, from a purely practical point of view, what you are really interested in being able to identify, are the movement patterns of people, in relation to you. If somebody wants to cause you harm, they need to move towards you in some form, and if you can identify this, you can exit your location and get to safety and/or put some barrier between you, such as a parked car or similar.

There are four basic types of synchronisation of movement. These are:

• 1. Following
• 2. Approaching
• 3. Intercepting
• 4. Waiting

STEPS TO REMEMBER 

Most of us at some point have had the experience of being followed i.e. we’ve felt the presence of somebody who is walking/moving behind us. One way we can test whether this is someone who is deliberately tracking us, is to change our direction and see if this person matches/synchronizes theirs to it e.g. we can cross the street, speed up, etc. If they don’t follow, we shouldn’t immediately consider ourselves safe, as they may well have realized that they’ve been noticed, and choose another part of our journey to once again synchronize their movement to ours.

If you see someone walking directly towards you i.e. approaching you, it is fairly obvious that they have some interest in you. However if you are winding your way through a crowd, and they mirror your movements, as they come towards you from the opposite direction, it might not be so obvious.

A predatory individual may not tie their movement directly to yours, they may instead choose to cross your path, or intercept you, at some point. Many muggers will choose to do this at natural choke points and stopping points. A choke point is somewhere that you naturally have to slow your movement down, such as at the top and bottom of escalators (groups of pickpockets will often choose these points, to block your forward movement, whilst one of their gang comes up behind you to relieve you of your possessions).

STAYING ALERT

Escalators are also locations which facilitate muggings, as somebody can stand behind you with a weapon in your back, demand your wallet or similar and then make off up the escalators. A natural stopping point could be a pedestrian crossing with walk/don’t walk signals, where somebody can time their arrival to coincide with yours. Be aware of whose movement is going to coincide with yours – you can always vary your speed if you think somebody is mirroring yours, as a means of checking whether they are synchronized to you or not.

If somebody knows where you’re going to be at a particular time, they can wait for you. Avoid speaking loudly on your mobile phone when you arrange to meet people, as anyone listening can work out what route you’re going to take, and can make sure they are ahead of you, on your route. If you have a routine that sees you leave the library late at the same time on a particular day, vary the time. Routine, although time efficient leads to predictability, and predictability is the predator’s best friend, whether they are a mugger, a burglar or a sexual assailant.

THE INTERVIEW PROCESS

The perpetrator may engage you with dialogue once they have gotten close enough to carry out their attack. A known tactic is asking you the time or for help. Rather than producing a weapon and drawing attention towards themselves.

If a criminal demands your purse, hand it over. Your possessions can always be replaced and are not worth losing your life for. 

 

TIPS FOR PARENTS

Although your daughter or son has grown up and is leaving home, don’t underestimate how much support they still need.

Even if they don’t ask for it, they need your experience, knowledge and skills to help them through the next few years.

Here are a few things you can do to help them now:

1. Visit their new home and city in advance of starting university and scope it out together. Take a couple of days to explore, check out the good areas and find out where the not-so-good areas are.

2. Support them to deal with student accommodation landlords

3. Help them to secure their home, room and property.

4. Talk about safety and security with them. Make sure they know they can talk to you no matter what it is, with no judgement.

5. Discuss different scenarios with them to see how they would react and if you can offer advice. E.g. What would you do if you lost your money and friends on a night out? What would you do if someone was following you home?

FINAL THOUGHTS ON EMPOWERING STUDENTS CAMPUS SAFETY 

At the end of the day, there is nothing worth more than you. Therefore, challenging a possible attacker is not a good idea. If you can get a good understanding of the 5 step predator process. And how perpetrators act you will go a long way to avoiding being the victim.

A few simple suggestions. Don’t leave exterior doors open in your room as this will prevent the majority of burglaries. Store all of your coursework in the cloud rather than on your laptop . This means if it does get stolen all of your work will not be lost. You may also want to consider e-books rather than traditional textbooks.  They’re lighter and can’t be stolen – even if your device is stolen, you will have them in the cloud. As a final note on safety in your halls of residence. Remember don’t hold locked/security doors open for people you don’t know.

RIDE SHARE SAFETY FOR STUDENTS

As anyone who has ever gone to college knows hustle and bustle of navigating this phase of your life. Having to deal with class schedules, late-night study sessions and social gatherings such as parties.  Finding reliable transportation is a necessity and a lot of students feel safer catching an Uber, than public transport at night. Giving them the option of convenient but affordable rides around campus and beyond. While Uber offers numerous benefits, ensuring safety during rides is paramount, especially for young adults living away from home.

Pre-booking or hiring a ride has never been as popular as it has been lately. This growing popularity has not only brought convenience for women and people from all walk of life, also with it comes some setbacks which can be avoided if the passenger is alert and observant.

Unfortunately there have been many attacks in ride-share companies around the world raises. Which like many people has me question women’s safety in these scenarios; especially if we travel alone. Click the following link for an website dedicated to ride share safety that every student should read. https://www.cordiscosaile.com/rideshare-safety-tips/

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