Here at FN, we believe that every woman needs to know how to protect herself from worst-case scenarios. Not that we want you to become paranoid, but if you’ve seen Panic Room, Red Eye, and all the Scream movies, you now that it pays to be alert about these things, especially if you’re living on your own. Below are a few suggestions:

1. Keep your doors and windows locked. Before you leave the house, make sure you double-check all doors and windows. You don’t want to come home to see that your whole place has been ransacked, or worse, to see the intruder still around.

2. Trust your gut. A woman's intuition can be quite spot on. When you feel like something is amiss, call someone immediately, or have a possible weapon (a baseball bat or a trophy) close at hand.

3. Don’t just invite anyone in. If a stranger knocks on your door and claims to need a phone, don’t let him or her in. Instead, give directions to the nearest payphone or establishment.

4. Install a CCTV camera. If you live in a fairly new condo, chances are, there might be CCTV cameras in the hallways. But it wouldn’t hurt to install one of your own.

5. Memorize important emergency numbers. When you hear someone attempting to infiltrate your home, you don’t have time to go online and look for the numbers you need. As it is with 911 in the US, you need to be able to dial the emergency number you need pronto!

(Photo by David Hoffman via Flickr Creative Commons)