Safety for Single Women

In just over a month s time two women have been murdered in Minot That raises the question of women s safety What can a single woman do to protect herself and prevent becoming the victim of a violent crime Karna Lillebo has some safety tips Diane Harmon DVCC Security and safety is kind of an illusion and we think that we re safe and unfortunately we re probably not as safe as we think we are With the murder of Jennifer Erickson of Plaza just over a month ago and the slaying of Minot State University student Anita Knutson this past weekend you might be wondering how a woman can protect herself from becoming the next victim Diane Harmon with the Domestic Violence Crisis Center in Minot says anything you can do or use to protect yourself is good In some cases it may be as simple as using your purse or keys as a weapon And she says knowing self-defense is good but may not always be the best method of defense Diane Harmon DVCC A lot of times you might use self-defense and you might get yourself into a worse situation So I think if you can run away that would be the best defense Harmon says if you re out by yourself the key is not looking vulnerable Keep your head up Carry your cell phone either in your hand or an easily accessible place And if you re walking to your car have your keys in hand But what about safety inside your home Lt Dan Strandberg Minot Police Detective All the time you should make sure that your apartment or your house is secured and your windows are locked your doors are locked If you have deadbolts you should make sure your deadbolts are secured We shouldn t have to lock our doors lock our cars lock our houses People just shouldn t go into other people s property and steel it and break into it and rob and kill But the fact is they do and you can take steps to help prevent it Karna Lillebo KX News