The Following Game provides an opportunity to practice confronting a stranger who may be following you.

 

Requirements:

Space for the whole group to mill around in.  About 5-10 minutes with debrief.

 

Instructions:

Ask participants to get in pairs.  They will take turns following each other around in the big group.  When the person being followed feels ready, they will turn around in confident stance and confront the follower, first just with stance and eye contact and then again also with words.  (“Stop following me!”, “What do you want?” etc.)  Then they will switch roles.  Facilitators demonstrate first, emphasizing boldness and the element of surprise.

 

Debrief:

Ask the group:  How did it feel to turn around and confront someone?  What felt difficult or easy about it?  How did it feel to be confronted?  What are some ways our intuition works to warn us that something is off?  What do we risk if we trust our intuition?  What do we risk if we don’t?

You can share the story of two self defense instructors who were walking down the street together when they each independently got the feeling that they were being followed.  Without discussing it, both women suddenly whirled around in confident/fighting stance, and the person walking behind them ran in the other direction.