thank you

Apologies if this is a bit obvious, but American police have a way of carrying cylindrical metal torches, where, rather than gripping the torch in a closed fist, with the hand outstretched and palm facing downwards, you balance the torch above your hand, resting it in the V-shape between the thumb and adjacent finger, and then close that finger around the top of the torch to connect with the thumb and grip the cylinder (I hope that's clear). The idea is that you can obviously point the torch forwards to see in the dark, and if an attacker approaches you can instantly flip the torch over and use it as a truncheon to whack the idiot over the head. My guess is this'd work well to deter uninvited guests from entering a tent.

Dunno why I didn't think of this before, but the classic metal "Acme Thunderer" whistles will near-as blow an attacker's head-off at close quarters and they only cost £2.50. Another deterrent is just to put up signs saying "For your safety, this camp has regular security patrols" (you might be able to improve on the wording, and consider luminous paint).

Finally while I do believe that even Anarchists should call the police if someone else is attacked (if they personally are attacked they're entitled to exercise personal discretion about that) I'd also ask feminists to be understanding towards people who mistrust the police. Their reluctance to call the police doesn't mean they're vile patriarchal monsters (even if they happen to be white males!) - when you've seen peaceful protestors disappear under piles of coppers and come out literally dripping with blood (as I've seen several times), hostility to the cops can be a reflex that's pretty hard to switch-off.

 http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/ACME-THUNDERER-660-REFEREE-WHISTLE-DARK-RED-/140364931499?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_3&hash=item20ae66e1ab

And thanks for your support Anon :)

people who commit sexual violence do so out of power and not because of over-burgeoning sexuality, and many people, especially people of colour, feel far more threatened by the presence of police about violence than they do of other demonstrators, as in the usual life of many people who have grown up in the slums of the city, police have targeted them since they were children, and many have died at their hands as well as having been assaulted.

furthermore, less than 6% of reported rape crimes end in a conviction. it is the only time where the victim is put on trial as a potential liar due to the perceived innocence of the accused, and the way that many people, especially of colour or politically active, or sexually active (especially if in the sex industry) are treated is as if they are criminals or have asked for it themselves. a womans whole sex life is put on display in court, from whether they have had many boyfriends to what clothes they were wearing at the time or if they had been drinking. it is likely that sharing a tent with someone, especially a strange man, will be perceived as some kind of acceptance of responsibility on the victims behalf.

baring that in mind, it is a VERY personal choice whether a rape survivor wishes to get the police involved and this decision should absolutely NOT be made for them on their behalf for the sake of anyone else. in fact, on that note, another post actually suggested not telling anybody in case it reflected badly on the movement, and suggested that people who do have been planted to cause trouble!!

alarms and torches COULD be helpful in some situations, but that really ignores the fact that in various circumstances, people freeze, or people arent sure whether what the other person is doing warrants causing a fuss, or that pre-emptive setting off of alarms could result in it being labelled a false alarm, or that under threat some people feel that it might be worse for them if they anger the person attacking. of course if its some strange guy youve never met bursting in to a one-person tent it would probably work in your favour, but if it was a fellow protester you were snuggling up to for warmth when it got a bit out of hand and there were others in the room who saw you snuggling then youre pretty much not going to be taken seriously.

taking precautions is one thing, but actually there isnt much that is effective to prevent sexual attack bar not getting personally close to men, seeing as the majority of cases are men known to the victim, friends, boyfriends, acquaintances... usually in a house.

as for this talk about 'feelings' about the police:

lets get this straight, feelings and political ideology are very different things.

who are you to tell someone who was for instance arrested at an anti-bnp demo at their annual parade and then sexually assaulted in the station, with all the female demonstraters having had their asses batoned (yes thats true), who triggers and is scared by the sight of the police, to set aside their feelings because YOU think thats just a case of bad apples and the logical 'morally right' thing to do is to go against that persons experience and involve the police? NOBODY. thats who.

as for political ideology, some people live how they mean to go on. deal with it. unless there is a very extreme case of violence i will not be involving the police in anything. you know a strong political view is not one that you completely dismiss when the times get hard. such assumptions really do give the impression that you have condescending views of people who are politically against the police, as childish fantasists by suggesting that their ideas arent for serious times. theyre EXACTLY for serious times. if you people understood what solidarity meant you would not be so quick to throw people to the police. if you understood what 'arm of the state' really meant, you would not be undermining how people react to that concept. if you understood that these ideas were formed through EXPERIENCE, and not just some ary-fairy theory, then maybe youd shut up. perhaps actually we think it is MORE dangerous to ourselves and to the movement to get the police involved. perhaps we believe in self-policing. perhaps handing a comrade in over violence (i dont include sexual or extreme violence necessarily) is completely incompatible with our beliefs, who we are, and the world in which we are trying to create, and perhaps we dont look forward to the day when we do something legally questionable that you dont like and people think that dividing their movement by scabbing on their own is acceptable, and the class war grows and the militant people that we need are behind bars with records because some liberal had a problem with some graffiti. DONE

There are plenty of ideas worth considering in this thread. Thanks for making them.

I'm well aware that a post like this is going to provoke strong feelings, however you say "it is a VERY personal choice whether a rape survivor wishes to get the police involved and this decision should absolutely NOT be made for them", and to an extent I'd agree, but the criticism feminists have directed at (male) Occupy protestors was that they failed to call the police, which you now seem to be implying might have been the right course of action? Either way, if you become aware that someone's being attacked, it's not your choice to decide on their behalf that the police should NOT be called the either - that's what my post is actually saying, so you should have read it more carefully before offering your criticism. It's difficult to consult someone about their feelings on this while they're in the middle of being attacked, so in situations like that I'd recommend calling the police anyway, and if the victim wishes not to press charges later, that's their choice.

As for saying that "alarms and torches COULD be helpful in some situations, but... people freeze" etc - 1st your observations are obvious, 2nd there's never any guarantee any precautions will ALWAYS work, and 3rd (as with all negative thinking) the only way to guarantee precautions won't work is not to try them (I'm trying to be helpful here, not to be super-human, this post freely admits the actions it's suggesting can't absolutely guarantee safety in all situations).

You ask who am I "to tell someone who was for instance arrested at an anti-bnp demo... and then sexually assaulted in the station... to set aside their feelings because YOU think thats just a case of bad apples" etc, but I absolutely did NOT tell anyone this nor does your comparison reflect my beliefs, so, with all due respect, please don't invent stuff about what you think my post said when it didn't.

Finally, if you believe that "there isnt much that is effective to prevent sexual attack bar not getting personally close to men" then, with the greatest of respect, the logical conclusion is that you shouldn't attend protests where you run the risk of meeting men. You also didn't say anything in your response about the issue of men being attacked at Occupy protests - being punched and stamped on and beaten with bricks by NF and EDL thugs and being gassed and shot by police.

Rambling!?

New York Daily News correspondent Harry Siegel reported that long-term winos had "been encouraged to “take it to Zuccotti” by (police) officers who’d found them drinking in other parks, and members of the community affairs working group (at the Occupation) related several similar stories they’d heard while talking with intoxicated or aggressive new arrivals"

but, there is a difference in calling 999 in an emergency and after the event

if someone is at real and imminent risk of violence and you dont have the physical confidence or means to prevent it then i think there is little choice but to call for outside help, which probably means 999

calling the police after the event should be the decision of any victim alone and should be made without coercion

Agreed

According to a report in The Daily Mail (no less) "The rights of women are under unprecedented attack amid growing evidence that (women) are disproportionately hit by the Government’s austerity measures. They are being hit with £11.5 billion of the Coalition’s £16 billion spending cuts - ‘turning back time’ on equality, according to the report from a coalition of more than 20 charities, unions and academics".

Meanwhile men who are fighting back against austerity are being assaulted as well as women - the physical safety of all these people is very important

 http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2057466/Women-hardest-hit-Coalitions-austerity-era.html?ito=feeds-newsxml

... seem like obvious proof of the patriarchal nature of this protest movement