MODEL SAFETY

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!


HOME AND CELL PHONES

You should not give out your phone number to anyone, ever.
No one needs this information.  Have them contact you the same way they did to be able to ask for your phone number.

Use a mobile phone whenever possible.   Your address will not be so easily discovered. 

“Pay as you go phones” are a 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 be needed for a model release 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 portfolio, be sure it uses a form that masks it.
Aside from stopping a lot of spam, it will hinder troublemakers from contacting you. 

If all else fails, get a free e-mail account from www.yahoo.com and use this for modelling related communication. Yahoo offers 1gb of mail space and is pretty reliable.


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.

In summery:
Don’t give your home phone number to anyone.
Use a mobile phone for modelling contacts.
Try to use a relatives home address.
Do your best to not put your e-mail address on a website.
If you have to have your e-mail address on a website, use a free service.
e-mail address such as yahoo.