Real Estates Agents Can Be Easy Targets For Attackers

With all the housing market stories flowing around, WomenOnGuard continues to bring attention to the issues that real estate agents face on a daily basis, sometimes several times a day. As you know, agents are always out and about and show houses to potential buyers all the time. Carrying self defense products is essential for this line of work.

The situation of real estate agents is unique in many ways. Talk about risky jobs, this is definitely one of them and where self defense products might come in handy. First, they usually don't know the person that they will be showing a home to. Second, more often than not, they show it alone without a partner or assistant. And third, many times the homes are unoccupied. These three circumstances can add up to a potentially dangerous job description for real estate agents, who become agents because they consider themselves good sales people and knowledgeable in the housing market. This danger is not very often spoken about, but is always on the minds of the real estate agents, while showing homes.

When the agent is a woman, it is even more of a safety issue. This danger is increased considerably if she is showing a home to a male buyer. As mentioned above, she usually would not know anything about this man, and she would usually show the house to him alone. Showing an empty house or condo is a perfect place for an assailant to commit a crime. They don't have to worry about witnesses and if they actually kill the agent, they don't have to worry about where to leave the body, since an empty house is the perfect place.

Occasionally you will hear in the news of cases where a real estate agent was raped or killed. This is no surprise, considering their unique situation. A real estate agent should always be conscience of their safety when showing homes and should always carry self defense products. This applies to male as well as female real estate agents and in small towns as well as large cities.

Sexual Assault Incidences are More Common Than You Think...

Rapes or sexual assaults are so common in this country, that the media doesn't bother to report them, unless it is a slow news day. I wondered how many stories were in the news today on "Sexual Assault". So I went to a website that I frequent to check on the news, Topix.net. I did a search for the words "Sexual Assault" and noticed that just in the stories posted within the last one hour there were 39 stories about sexual assaults. After that 39th story, the 40th story was posted over an hour prior to me seeing the list of my search result. There were all types of sexual assault stories. Some were stories of just reported sexual assault incidents, others were rulings in court cases, pedaphile cases, predator cases, phychiatrist assaulting patient, State Representative charged with sexual assault, the list goes on and on... 39 stories made it to the news in a time span of just one hour.

What is really sad, is that most cases are not reported, let alone, make it to the news! What is even more sad is that this is constantly going on and the public is so used to it, that nothing is done to resolve this problem. People say, "It just exists, there is nothing we can do about it...". As stated in WomenOnGuard.com's home page, "Every two minutes, somewhere in America, someone is sexually assaulted." This information comes from RAINN.org (Rape, Abuse, and Incest National Network).

Obviously, something has got to change. We are in the 21st century and these incidences are as predominant today as they were centuries ago or maybe even worse. We need to have tougher laws and sentences for these assailants and not let these horrific crimes continue to affect future generations of women, children and also men.

Why Use Non-Lethal, Self Defense Products?

People's response to this question is usually the first obvious one; you don't kill your attacker. This is correct, but there is an even more important reason to use non-lethal, self defense products. This reason is not thought of as often but it is the most important of the reasons for me.

When a criminal attacks a person, most of the time, that person is not carrying a self defense weapon. But sometimes a potential victim does carry an item he or she uses to protect themselves and attempts to use it in self defense. Sometimes, potential victims that are armed with a self defense weapon or product, are overtaken by the attacker's strength and have their weapon taken away from them. This can obviously be a dangerous situation and one that you obviously want to avoid. But, it does happen and this is where having a non-lethal, self defense product becomes a better choice. More often than not, attackers will use your weapon against you. I'm sure you know the ending of this explanation... If you carry your non-lethal, self defense product such as a Taser and it is turned against you, you will NOT be killed. If you had a lethal weapon, such as a gun, in your possession, then you have a chance of being killed by your own weapon and it will probably only have your fingerprints on it.

There are other advantages to using non-lethal, self defense products:

The accidental discharge of the product or weapon by an innocent person or a child or by your own carelessness. Again, this is where it is important that the product you carry be non-lethal.

Another good reason to carry a non-lethal product is that if you unlawfully or carelessly use it on someone, the legal consequences aren't as harsh as if you would have killed someone!

You don't need a special permit to carry a non-lethal, self defense product. Firearms require you to get a conceal carry permit.

And last but not least, non-lethal, self defense products are usually cheaper than fire arms.

I don't know about you, but non-lethal, self defense products get my vote, hands down!

Man Arrested For Impersonating Marshal, Sexual Assaults

Reporter: Cayle Thompson

Wichita police have arrested a man they said impersonated a U.S. Marshal and sexually assaulted at least two women. Police discussed the arrest with reporters this morning.

Police believe 51-year-old David Gage met the women on "Craig's List" in the personals section. Officers said once the people met in person Gage would produce a badge and handheld scanner, then coerce the victims into having sex.

While police know of two cases, they believe there could be additional victims. If women have information about similar incidents they can call the Wichita Police Sex Crimes Division at (316) 268-4156.

Lets Stop "Drive-Through" Mastectomies

As women know, this is a drastic, physically and emotional procedure for women. To make things worse, insurance companies are making it difficult for doctors to keep mastectomy patients for a longer stay in hospitals. Doctors are forced to have patients leave the hospitals too quickly. According to hospital personnel, the time allowed is not enough for proper recovery of patients. Patients are being forced to leave while still groggy from anesthesia and sometimes with drainage tubes still attached.

There is a bill called the Breast Cancer Patient Protection. This bill will require that insurance companies cover a minimum of 48-hour hospital stay for patients undertaking this surgery.

You can show your support for this bill by going to the Lifetime Television website and sign a petition to urge Congress to continue to take steps to pass this bill. This bill is 12 years too late. But for the nearly 200,000 women who will face breast cancer this year, it is about time. Please click on this link to have your voice heard.

College Safety Essentials Package

The Summer is coming to an end soon and many parents of college students, especially female students, are concerned about the safety of their daughters on campus.

At WomenOnGuard.com, we know that a female attending college is 4 times more likely to get sexually assaulted, when compared to other women in our society. For this reason, we put together a special offer called, "College Essentials Package". This package includes the powerful 975,000 volts Hot Shot stun gun. This particular stun gun is not only powerful but conveniently small and can fit in the palm of a woman's hand. Along with the stun gun, we included the Pepper Pen, which is a pepper spray conveniently disguised as a pen for an element of surprise. The package also includes a Lipstick Pepper Spray. This product appears like an ordinary lipstick or perfume container, but again, it really is a pepper spray for self defense. To complete the package, a Defensive Sprays Handbook is included. It contains helpful information on the usage of defensive sprays and the proper way to use them against attackers. This package will save you OVER 18% if you compare it to the total price of all the products purchased separately.

The Difference Between Privacy Laws in Europe Compared to the United States

Security and privacy laws are a huge topic of the times. As a citizen, you assume that your personal information is safe. You expect that your health, money, emails, etc. are secure. This is very important for everyone in the world, but there are big differences, for instance, on what is considered private in Europe and what is considered private here in the U.S. The laws vary from one continent to the other and sometimes conflict when Europeans visit us or we visit Europe. The core difference is that the Europeans trust their governments for private information and not companies. Europeans don't allow companies to get information from citizens unless they get consent from it's citizens first. Americans prefer minimum government intrusion, the less that Uncle Sam knows, the more free we feel. Companies in the U.S. can get your private information without your consent. Below is a list of the differences between privacy laws in Europe and the U.S.


To read more about your privacy, and view a more clear chart, click here.

My Ammonia Pistol Was Only the Beginning

When I was a teenager and started hanging out with my girl friends at malls, movie theaters, etc., it dawned on all of us that we each needed to have some sort of weapon to protect ourselves.

Back then, I did not know about pepper spray. I was very naive and sheltered by my parents. In the 70's there were no personal computers or Internet, where you can surf and find self defense products. I can't recall who was the genius who mentioned it first or had the brainstorm, but somehow the idea came up for us to use a water pistol and fill it with ammonia! Well, that was the best thing I had ever heard of! What a great idea!

I didn't waste any time, I went to a store that had toys and purchased an orange water pistol. My mother always had ammonia for cleaning the bathrooms, so I poured some of it in the water pistol. I made sure that it would not leak and put it inside my favorite purse. I checked it a few hours later to see if the purse stunk like ammonia, and fortunately it didn't at all.

Well, that was the beginning of my obsession with self defense products! Now that I think more carefully about that great idea, it really was more dangerous than we thought. We really did not know the amount of damage that ammonia could actually cause if you get it in your eyes. It could cause permanent damage! I'm glad neither one of us had to use our ammonia pistols, or we could have been hit with a large law suit!

Later as a working adult, I had to use the subway to go to and from work. I felt I needed to actually purchase a product that was reliable and safe. By this time there was an Internet and I purchased my first Stun Gun from the Internet. Right away I felt safe, especially in the winter months around 6 PM, when I got off the train and had to walk to my car, parked in a huge parking lot, around the train station. I lived in the suburbs, so I had to drive from the station to my house and those walks to my car were very scary at night. My stun gun went anywhere I went and I particularly liked the fact that I could walk with my dog through hiking trails in a nearby park and not worry about getting attacked.

Last year, I heard that there was even a better product on the market and that it was designed with women in mind. In my pursuit to get the latest and greatest out there, as far as self defense products, I purchased what for me, has been the ultimate self defense weapon; the Taser C2. This baby is perfect. I can electrically shock an attacker as far as 15 feet away! This Taser is small, has a LED light to see in the dark and a laser so I don't miss a shot. It also doubles as a stun gun, in case I shock an attacker and another person comes towards me. I never in my wildest dreams, thought I could have a self defense product such as the Taser C2. The good thing about it too, is that the Taser C2 is non lethal and does not cause any permanent damage, unlike my first weapon, the Ammonia Pistol!

Apartment Safety Tips for Single Women

As a woman that has lived in apartment complexes for many years, I thought I would share some safety tips for apartment living.

An apartment complex is like a small town where you have your friends, people whose faces just look familiar and some people that are complete strangers. There are places in the complex where you are more likely to gather with others. Some of these areas are; the office for the apartments, the club house, the laundry room, the pool/tennis courts area, the mailboxes section and the trash dumping area. Below is a breakdown of the different locations and the precautions you might consider:

Office Area
This is usually the safest place of the complex because there usually is more than one person present. It is where some checks are dropped off by renters or someone is complaining about their kitchen sink, etc. You still need to keep your guard up, in case someone for some reason gets angry, but usually the anger is targeted toward the office employee.

Mailbox Area
This area is one of the most dangerous and you should always keep your guard up! Criminals keep a close eye on mailbox sections of an apartment complex. Why? Because people are pretty predictable as to when they check their mail. Attackers like the fact that if they observe you for a few days, they can pretty much predict when you are going to check your mailbox. Usually people go to this section when they drive home from work. When you approach your mailbox, look around you. If there are a few people present, it is safer, but if you are the only one there, please be very cautious, especially at night. Always prepare your self defense product and have it in your hand and prepared to be used, prior to approaching the mailbox area.

Club House Area
Some complexes have club houses to rent them out for parties, but others have indoor recreational things such as pool and ping pong tables, pin ball machines, video games etc. Club houses can be very popular, especially on the weekends and in the evenings. Many times you will encounter people who are drinking alcoholic beverages that they brought from their apartment. It is always wise to go to club houses with a friend. Once in a while you will encounter a sore looser at a card game, for example, that can become violent and take it out on whomever is nearby. If you meet a new person, be careful on giving out your apartment number. Be aware also if someone is following you back to your apartment. If you are in fear of being followed, go to a friend's apartment, if you know they are home.

Tennis Court or Pool Area
The tennis court is pretty safe because you usually are accompanied by a tennis partner. The pool area is also pretty safe since it is very open and everyone is in plain site. Even when you are alone, an attacker will avoid an area that many people can see easily. Just make sure that when you leave the pool area, you prepare your self defense product ahead of time, prior to walking back to your apartment. This is important, because, since you are in plain site, that also means that a potential attacker or stalker could have also been looking at you. Keep in mind, that if you are going to the pool on a regular basis, try to go at different times of the day. This will make your schedule less predictable. If you are alone, try NOT to go at night.

Laundry Room Area
Here is another section of an apartment complex that is very dangerous. For one, it is noisy because of the machines. This noise can easily cover up someones scream or cry for help. For some reason, people feel they need to chat with whomever else is doing laundry. This can be a great tool for an assailant to get more information from you that you shouldn't have given to him in the first place! Be careful what you tell a complete stranger. Even if he is the cutest guy, and my, so meticulous with his neatly folded laundry! Impressive right? NO! Potential attackers play a caring role to make you feel comfortable and therefore letting your guard down. Again in this situation make sure you have a self defense product readily available.

Trash Dump Area
This area is of much concern because most people dump their trash at night, after dinner. If you don't want to wait until morning, please be very careful about this. If your trash dump area is dark, ask the apartment complex manager to install some kind of lighting around it. This may prove to be difficult but it is worth a try. You might want to consider asking a few female friends, that live there, to join in your request. Always take your self defense product with you and prepare it to be used. Always move cautiously toward the site and look around carefully as you approach. If you see someone that you do not recognize near it, maybe leaning against their car or smoking... Just turn around and go back home. You can always try later. It is better to be cautious than hurt or killed. If your trash is heavy, just set it down somewhere temporarily, where you can pick it up later.

If you want to include more helpful tips, please add your comment on this post!

Woman in W.Pa. baby mystery charged with homicide

By RAMESH SANTANAM

July 20, 2008

A woman suspected of cutting open a pregnant woman's uterus and stealing the baby has been charged with homicide, unlawful restraint and kidnapping, police said Sunday.

Andrea Curry-Demus, 38, of Wilkinsburg, is charged in the death of Kia Johnson, 18, of McKeesport. Curry-Demus is accused of taking the baby boy to a Pittsburgh hospital and claiming it was her own.

Johnson's body was found Friday in Curry-Demus's apartment. The body was positively identified through dental records, Allegheny County Medical Examiner Karl Williams said Sunday.

To read more click on Headline above.