On today’s episode of Dateline: True Crime Weekly, Andrea Canning talks to self-defense expert and CEO of Girls Fight Back, Nicole Snell.
If you’ve been inspired to run by the Summer Games, Nicole has some safety tips for you.
You can listen to the full episode now, for free.
Plus, read a transcript of their exchange below:
Andrea Canning: Nicole, I feel like this has never been more important -- talking about this. Sixty percent of the women in a survey conducted by Runners World and Women’s Health magazines in 2021 said they’d been harassed while out running. And we’ve all heard the horror stories of joggers like 22-year-old nursing student Laken Riley, murdered while running on her college campus. What precautions can women take when they go out for a run by themself?
Nicole Snell: What I always like to put into perspective when we’re talking about runner safety, is that even though we hear these stories of women being attacked while running, the majority of the time women are attacked by people we know. I like to use that to try to quell some of the fear about going out there. I instead like to offer strategies that can help them notice when there might be a problem. So one of the main things that women can do is trust their intuition. If we get that feeling in our gut, or however else your intuition sends you a message, that there’s a problem, it means there’s a problem. So if someone approaches you and they’re being really nice and complimentary, but you have that feeling in your gut, then trust that feeling and you can be direct and say, “I don’t want to talk to you.”
Canning: I think what fights that intuition is that we want to be polite.
Snell: One hundred percent. And I talk about this a lot, this imperative to be nice. And what I like to tell women and everybody is that your safety is more important than someone else’s feelings.
Canning: When it comes to running, there’s really, there’s two situations you could look at. One is that you’re running and you’re noticing somebody behind you or in front of you that is giving you a weird feeling. Should you just run as fast as you can away from them?
Snell: I would say that is one option for runners, That is our superpower, right? To be able to run. But at the same time, we might not have the stamina to continue running for a long distance, if we notice someone behind us. Another option is to stop and let them pass you. So they’re no longer behind you. If someone’s behind you, you can’t see who they are. You can’t see what they’re doing. And if there’s going to be a confrontation, me personally, I would rather have that confrontation face to face than have someone behind me.
Canning: And then the other situation is you’re running, and someone jumps out of the bushes. What do you do?
Snell: You do whatever you can in the moment, right? So, the best thing that I can tell you is to remember your entire body is a weapon. Use it. Use your voice. Be loud. Yell, “No. Stop. Get away from me.” Use whatever you can on your body to strike vulnerable spots on their body.
Canning: Is there anything a woman can take with her while she’s jogging that could help her?
Snell: So, if a woman does want to carry something, they have to train with it. Because when adrenaline hits, it reduces your fine motor skills, it reduces your logic and reasoning. So if you’re not practicing with the tool you plan to bring, it may not respond the way you’re expecting it to.
Canning: Someone gave me recently one of those things you — that the loud blast. I don’t know what you call those.
Snell: Uh, personal alarms.
Canning: Yeah. And it’s really loud. I mean, that could really be jarring for someone if they’re trying to attack you and suddenly, you know, you’re blasting this loud noise in their face,
Snell: It is certainly an option. But noise can be ambiguous, right? If someone hears an alarm, they might not know what’s going on. But if I’m yelling, you know, “Hey, back off. No. I said leave me alone.” Now we have earwitnesses that may be able to come and help.
Canning: Most people like to run with music. Are headphones detrimental to women if they can’t hear what’s going on around them?
Snell: When I used to run consistently, I loved to run with headphones. I needed my music. So, I think that as long as you can still hear what’s going on around you, right? Like, a lot of headphones now have that transparency mode, so you can hear the music, but you can still hear what’s going on. Or just use one headphone. Then, you know, play it -- play your music all you want.
Canning: Nicole, thank you so much for this great advice.
Snell: Thank you.
