With Women’s Month celebrations in full swing, there is one sure way of celebrating all things female and that is shopping.
Shopping women go deeper than just consumer spending and effectively contributing to the economy – it’s a form of therapy that many women around the world understand and regularly partake in.
To avoid any distractions and harmful situations during leisurely shopping trips, Honeydew Police spokesperson Warrant Officer Karen Jacobs advises women to heed the following tips in mind:
– Avoid carrying large amounts of money.
– Never leave valuable possessions in the trolley.
– Don’t allow your children to go to a public toilet on their own.
– Put your wallet in an inside coat or the front pants pocket, not a back pocket.
– Carry your bag around your neck and diagonally across your body. Don’t carry it hanging over one shoulder.
– Be alert when the cashier is scanning your items as the customer before you could put some of your items in his/her shopping bag.
– If you are paying in cash, make sure that you do not take out more than is required.
– Teach your children that one does not eat food in the shop before it is paid for.
– Hold your smaller children by hand as they may go missing in busy shopping malls.
– Be alert when approached by another person who may be distracting you so their counterpart can steal from you.
– If a stranger bumps into you while shopping immediately check for your valuable belongings.
– Put your shopping bags in the boot of your car when doing shopping.
– Be on the lookout for loiterers in places such as parking areas, entrances or foyers of buildings, in the vicinity of stairways and lifts, along corridors, arcades and streets, or in isolated public areas.
