Reply #98: My heart goes out to the family and friends.. [View All]

[progressivebydesign]

THis is so horrible. Made much worse for the public by the photo/video being made public. To see her alive, makes you hope she'd still be alive. I didn't view the video, I don't know if it was even available to the public. I couldn't bear to. The photo was enough.

I have a 12 year old daughter. I showed her the photo of the guy leading her away by the arm. We talked, once again, about what to do in those situations. Her first response.. "I don't care if the guy had a gun on me, I would have been jumping up and down and screaming and trying to get out to the street". We've taught her that if you get into someone's car, if they remove you from where they find you, you're pretty much dead. It's a sad thing to teach, but it's true. It's a fact. She and I agreed we'd much rather be shot or stabbed right there in public, than to be taken somewhere else to be killed and worse. Every woman should know that. Not every woman or child will take a class in self defense. But if they know to fight back in any way possible, make a scene, they have a chance.

There is a book called, The Gift of Fear. Written by a man who was in law enforcement for many years. It talks about those issues. It talks about how willingly we allow our fear of hurting a stranger's feelings (as women and girls), to overrun our natural instincts of fear. I believe he has a book for girls now, too. It'll scare you, but it's so worth it.