The way you walk could make you a target for potential predators, a forensic expert has warned.
Alex, a forensic psychology student, said that evidence suggests male predators look for specific characteristics when they choose a victim – from the width of their stride to the way they hold their arms.
In a recent TikTok video, she referenced a study that looked at men convicted of rape, assault, murder and kidnappings to uncover the methodology behind selecting a victim.
Inmates overwhelmingly selected women who looked scared, uncomfortable or walked with a certain awkwardness that indicated they wouldn’t put up a good fight if attacked.
Every 68 seconds a person is sexually assaulted in the US and the way you carry yourself like looking scared, holding your arms close to your body, or walking with your head down could make you a victim
The way you walk and your body language says a lot about who you are as a person – whether you’re shy, awkward or confident – all this can be discerned by your stride and the way you carry yourself.
Researchers at Brock University conducted the study in 2013, which they showed imprisoned predators videos of women walking and asked them to select which type of woman they would select as a victim.
‘Out of all the women in the videos, only a select few were unanimously chosen by the incarcerated males,’ Alex said in the video, as reported on by UpWorthy.
‘You may think these women were chosen because of something to do with their physical appearance such as their body size, if they were small and petite, certain hair color or a certain overall physical appearance,’ she continued.
‘Instead, what the women all had in common was the way that they walked and how they generally held themselves in public.’
The women who were targeted in the study had a stride that was too big or too small for the size of their body, had their arms crossed or locked close to their body or else swung them wildly at their sides.
They also appeared to be unaware of their surroundings, took smaller steps, and walked at a slower pace with their head down.
By walking with their arms crossed and being oblivious to their surroundings, the inmates said it signaled they were more fearful and anxious, making them weaker than other potential victims, Alex shared.
Because the women weren’t looking at their general surroundings, they would be easier to surprise, and keeping their arms crossed meant the predator could wrap their arms around them without the person putting forth too much of a fight.
Alex, a forensic psychology student, posted a TikTok video explaining that signs of weakness gives the impression that you’re more fragile and will be an easy target for predators. But for women who walk with a straight back, chin up and keep up with the pace of others exudes the air that they will put up a good fight if attacked
Alex also noted that when women swung or flailed their arms away from their body, it left their body open for a predator to easily come up from behind and wrap their arms around their torso.
Much like a lion preying on an an antelope with a broken leg over healthier animals, women who walk slower or take smaller steps could give the impression that they’re ill, injured or just more fragile in general making them easier to subdue.
Yet women who walked with a natural gait, or stride, proportional to their body, kept up the same pace as others in the area and stood up straight with their chins lifted were not likely to be targeted, according to the 2013 study.
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These women exuded an air of confidence, ‘essentially giving off an energy that said: ‘Don’t mess with me. I will put up a good fight,” Alex said.
The TikToker acknowledged that it can be difficult to think about the way you walk and carry yourself actively, but remembering the STAAR method could make it easier.
She said it’s important to walk with a S(tride) natural to your body, stand T(all) and keep your shoulders back and chin up, avoid keeping your A(rms) close to your body, stay A(ware) of your surroundings and R(elax) by staying calm and collected.
The takeaway, Alex said, is ‘don’t give off any indication that you feel or see that something is wrong to a potential attacker.’
Every 68 seconds, a person is sexually assaulted in the US but only 25 out of every 1,000 predators end up in prison, according to RAINN (Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network), making it more important than ever to take steps to protect yourself from predators.