European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - July 27, 1990, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Many safety conscious Washington area women confronted with the possibility of being attacked at Home or on the Street Are turning to fitness training and Urban defense . Women develop a sixth sense by Dana priest Washington Post p Amela Mckee a Washington shop owner sleeps with a Butcher knife within Arm s reach Karen Lamb a metro employee buys season theater tickets for saturday matinees so she does no to have to travel at night Katie Hogan varies the time she takes the bus each Day from her Alexandria a Home to the subway a half mile away. A Silver Spring md., landlord gave a gun to his tenant a woman living alone to keep by her bed. Confronted with the possibility of being attacked at Home or on the Street Many Washington area women have incorporated burdensome measures into their daily lives to reduce their chances of joining the 1,234 women who reported being raped in the area last year or the thousands of others who suffered assaults muggings and attempted rapes. In the past decade National rape rates in the United states have risen nearly four times As fast As the total crime rate according to the Fri. While some women say they do not worry about their safety others say they have developed a sixth sense devoted to self preservation a sense that Clicks on when a stranger approaches or someone walks up behind them when they retrieve a car from a dark parking lot alone or enter a nearly empty subway car late at night. A a it a just a part of me one slice of my pie Quot said Peggy Sweeney 22, a personnel manager for a District of Columbia Law firm. Quot we All carry around different scripts for our environment. When i m walking around downtown keep a distance Between myself and others. I look people in the Eye and am prepared for a  Washington is a City of working women 67.8 percent of District women work outside the Home a higher percentage than in any other . City. That Factor plus the interest in physical fitness that has More people exercising outdoors has meant that women must be More concerned about their safety outside the Home. The fear of being attacked keeps some women from working late or attending civic and cultural events alone keeps them up at night listening to unfamiliar noises and at times forces them to find companionship when they would prefer to be alone according to interviews with working women and local crime prevention experts who talk with women about their safety. They have adopted a Range of measures to protect themselves. The Telephone Book is full of last names preceded by just an initial a a common Way women attempt to hide their identities. Many women carry weapons in their purses a Mace hair Spray whistles squirt guns filled with perfume or Lemon juice. Others keep their weapons in hand a scissors spiked brass Knuckles car keys pens. Lee Miller a coordinator of the religious task Force on Central America walks with her thumb on the trigger of a hand held alarm after a Man attempted to rape her three years ago on her Short walk Home from her metro Stop. A a in a always nervous now and i can to stand having someone walking behind us a said Miller who now walks Home with her Roommate going five blocks out of the Way to avoid the Street where she was beaten. Whenever Vera Glaser a writer has a night meeting downtown she arrives a Little before 6 30 and sits in her car until she can legally Park near the building and not have far to Waik when her meeting ends. Quot i just have gotten highly sensitive Quot she said. Mary Keefe a retired police officer who lives in suburban Maryland said she makes sure her Gas tank is full when she must drive at night so she does no to have to Stop at a station. Quot it s very inconvenient Quot said Keefe. Quot you change your life. You have to worry about whether you have Gas or about having change for a Telephone  some women walk in the Middle of quiet streets when they feel unsafe others do not hesitate to run full Speed when they feel uncomfortable. Some arrange to be picked up from a metro subway station or bus Stop no matter How Short the distance Home. Some women said they Wiit not go out at night for groceries. Lauren Taylor a self defense instructor will not do laundry at night in the laundry room of her suburban Maryland apartment Complex a decision she described As Quot really inconvenient in the Winter when you get Home and get s dark.1 one self defense class for women includes a lesson on laundry room tactics keep bleach and detergent readily available to throw in an attacker s face if necessary. On More than one business trip said Marty Langelan past president of the . Rapa crisis Center she has scolded a hotel Check in clerk for calling out her room number in the lobby and has insisted that the clerk assign her another room and write its number on apiece of paper. Feeling comfortable and staying Safe in their Homes Means that Many women forgo less expensive ground floor apartments and install expensive Security systems and extra door and window locks one woman hangs tiny Bells inside All her doors. One sprinkles gravel below each window so that anyone trying to break in would make a crackling sound. Another has nailed shut All her first floor windows when 44-year-old Susan Dornblaser a Legal Secretary started living alone in a suburban neighbourhood after her divorce she would yell Quot i m Home Quot every Day before entering her House. Quot i thought if anyone was there they would leave Quot she said. Before she could relax Dornblaser would Check every closet something other women said they also do. She also developed the habit of staying up late Quot because i would listen to All the House  although her living situation has changed now she is still frustrated by what she sees As the uncomfortable and unsafe nature of going out alone. A at my age i cannot go into a far and sit Down by myself. I d like to Quot she said. Quot some Friday nights when i m going Home i think a Why can t i go sit somewhere by myself a Quot Taylor said Horny laser a dilemma is far from unusual. A a lot of it is a very Fine line when you re making a reasonable accommodation to the realities of life and when you re putting yourself in jail in your own Home said Taylor who has been asked to teach self defense classes at colleges professional offices neighbourhood association meetings Homes for battered women and shelters for the homeless. To women such As Heather Dolstra a businesswoman who lives in a quiet residential neighbourhood and who recently attended a Sel defense class organized by her neighbors the Choice seems Clear. Quot my exercise is strictly indoors it would never occur to me to be out on a Bike alone after 5  Page 16 the stars and stripes Friday july 27, 1990