Prevention
They say prevention is often the best medicine.
There are numerous things you can do to ensure your safety before problems begin. The key is to not give out too much personal information, and be selective who you give it to.
Note: Do not agree to a shoot if you do not know who the photographer/producer is. Ask for samples - if someone cannot produce samples be on guard.
If they cannot produce samples and they are using a free e-mail account such as hotmail - be on your guard!
Telephones & Mobiles
You should not give out your home phone number to anyone, ever.
No one needs this information, unless it is needed on a model release form, but even then a mobile number should be suitable.
Use a mobile phone number whenever possible.
“Pay as you go” is great option here because if someone starts harassing you, you can ditch the sim card and get another one without too much expense (remember to keep all your contact numbers).
If someone calls you and you cannot see their number, do not answer the phone.
Your Address
An address should only ever be needed for a model release form Click here for a sample form.
As a suggestion try to use a family members address whenever possible instead of your own.
The Internet
This is the largest problem area to deal with, but following these guidelines will help a lot.
e-mail:
Never, ever put your e-mail address publicly on a website. If you have your own website, you should ask the webmaster to use a form that hides your e-mail address.
Aside from stopping a lot of spam, it will hinder troublemakers from contacting you. Scripts for forms like this are free and can be found in many places - Try this place. Your webmaster should know this!
If all else fails, get a free e-mail account from www.yahoo.co.uk and use this for modelling related communication. Yahoo offer 1gb of mail space and doesn’t have such a bad reputation as hotmail.
Web Forums:
If you join a forum and your mail address is easily found or publicly displayed ask the admin to hide it - nearly every forum script has an option to allow members to e-mail each other via the forum itself.
I.M:
Instant messengers are a playground for troublemakers as they are more or less anonymous. Be careful who you give your contact info to, blocking troublemakers is a simple issue.
Further steps
Some other useful tips that might come in handy.
Secret codes:
This tip was told to me by a model and its a nice system.
Before you go to a shoot, let a friend or family member know where the shoot is.
If, at any point during the shoot you get harassed or can sense trouble coming, inform the photographer that you have to make a quick call - try to do this during a break so as not to arouse suspicion, and call the person you told the location to.
You need to work out a secret code with this person and it can be quite simple. Maybe along the lines of;
‘We are having pancakes for dinner’. Meaning - The shoot is okay with no problems.
‘We are having fish and chips for dinner’. Meaning - This guy is odd and I’m a bit worried.
‘We are having a take-away for dinner’. Meaning - I need to get out of here right now.
There should be no reason to go over-the-top and call the police, your friend turning up at the location should be enough to put most people off trying anything.
Protection:
Buying a personal alarm and keeping it handy would be useful.
This online shop sells many types of personal alarms, from tiny keyring alarms through to powerful aerosol alarms that can let out a 135 decibel alarm for 3 minutes, spray an obnoxious oder and also an invisible dye.
Be very careful with these devices, only use them in extreme circumstances.
In summery:
Don’t give your home phone number to anyone.