Checklist of personal safety precaution issues to prevent rape.

So many of us limit our activities in order to prevent being raped. Perhaps you've read articles on personal safety. Some tell you not to go out alone at night. Others tell you not to stay home alone at night. But what if you live alone? What if you enjoy going out by yourself? The quality of your life is as important as your personal safety.

Here are some things to think about when you're examining a safety precaution:

• What does it actually do for you? Does it increase your ability to escape, get help, or fight back? Does it keep a potential attacker away from you? Does it give information, or keep information from a potential attacker?
• When would it be useful? No safety precaution is good in every situation. Would this be something you would use at home, on a date, with friends, at the office?
• What are you giving up? Sometimes using a safety precaution affects our available choices, our freedom, our lives. Are you willing to make this particular compromise--or would you prefer a different option?
• What else would achieve the same end? There are lots of different ways to approach the same problem. Mix and match safety precautions. If one isn't appropriate this time, maybe it will be next time.

Only you can decide what to do to make your life safer from rape. Make your own choices. That's how to get your power back.

next: Protecting Yourself From Stranger Rape and Date Rape