The first part of my book is called Perceptions. What I explore in that section is an ordinary civilian’s perceptions of violent crime. It is evident through the social studies data cited that the public’s violent crime perceptions do not follow violent crime statistics. This mismatch should be disconcerting to everyone. What this means is that the matrix now controls your perceptions.
What is the matrix? Well, popular sci-fi movies aside, it means you are isolated from a specific feature of reality but are being informed about it in a way that doesn’t track reality. Sometimes, this information comes from propaganda or psychological warfare. Other times, it comes from something I call the “Engagement Bias,” where the need for likes, comments, shares, and ratings changes the structure of information, creating misunderstandings between the possible, probable, and actual.
Rape is a clear example of a violent crime that has public misconceptions. If you were to ask 100 women if strangers rape more women than their relatives and friends, I think the answer would overwhelmingly be “strangers.” Because of that perception, there is no lack of women’s self-defense training or woman-only concealed carry classes. I think that those classes are great, but are they a good match for protection against common rape circumstances? In my book, I argue not. Here are some common circumstances of rape:
- The victim is at a place where she feels comfortable
- The victim knows her offender
- The victim may be involuntarily drugged or voluntarily intoxicated
- The offender won’t use a weapon
- The victim won’t call the police
- The victim won’t seek medical treatment.
I suspect that news stories about a woman being raped by a friend after a night out on the town won’t generate a lot of engagement (assuming it is reported). I can see people flipping through the channels or browsing social media thinking, “She should have picked better friends,” and never engaging with the story. However, a news report of a woman pulled out of a car in a university parking lot and raped by a stranger will likely generate a lot of engagement.
The question is not whether the rape occurred but which rapes are reported. Assume stranger-rape is rare but reported often, and friend-rape is common but reported rarely, the public will have an incorrect perception of the probability of stranger-rape. Furthermore, suppose the circumstances are different between stranger-rape and friend-rape to the extent that they require different self-defense strategies. In that case, women could be preparing for the unlikely and being entirely unprepared for the more likely. For example:
- How are your self-defense skills when you are involuntarily drugged? What about if you are voluntarily intoxicated?
- Do you usually carry a concealed firearm when enjoying time with friends? What about when you are having a few mixed drinks at a house party?
Breaking through the matrix is the first step. Consulting the best statistics and analytics is the next step. Then, once your perceptions are a much closer match to reality, determining your best self-defense strategies is next. A woman’s best defense against common rape circumstances is a challenging problem. The reason is that rape resembles betrayal more than a stranger attack.