The Survivability Onion Part 1

This is a guest blog by a friend of the center, coming to us via the Something Awful forums. Minor edits have been made for clarity or grammar. 

The military has a concept of a series of actions necessary to complete a (successful) attack, which they call the "kill chain". This is kind of ghoulish and not terribly relevant to us as individuals, but by inverting the concept we can come up with something useful. A (successful) attack requires a specific series of actions to happen, and if we can successfully disrupt or deny one of these steps, the attack cannot succeed. This is quite possibly one of the most powerful defensive concepts available to us. It's certainly the first way I instinctively frame defensive measures.

Risk Management

There's always risk, and this easily leads to excessive fear or paralysis. Even after correctly contextualizing the risk within your everyday activities, it doesn't disappear, and forgetting or disregarding them entirely can be a mistake if, however unlikely, they do come to pass or otherwise become relevant. Through intentional analysis of the entire onion, we can develop a full picture about what risks we face, and then choose where to accept that risk. If you refuse to make this analysis or make this choice, you run an even greater risk of having a threat choose it for you, and they do not have your best interests in mind.

You're familiar with this concept already if you've ever "kept an eye out" for something, since humans only have like 120° of vision at most and a circle is 360°. You can't cover everything, and if you try you'll get really dizzy really fast and not see anything, but you can choose what areas to focus on and what to ignore.

Now, the Survivability Onion. Let's start at the outside and begin peeling away layers to truly understand what's happening. I'll go over each layer, and then touch on how that concept may be counterproductive if overemphasized.

Don't be THERE

This is a concept we're all familiar with. Just walk or if necessary run away, right? But the concept of "not being there" can be interpreted so much more broadly. This includes not going to places you suspect or can reasonably expect violence in general or violence specifically against you. Most people have a pretty decent idea of how they can apply this if they stop and think about it, but going over common routines or plans you're not quite sure about with a friend whose judgment you trust can catch whatever you happen to miss. They may be aware of a dangerous aspect you're unfamiliar with, or simply catch mistakes and other things that were overlooked.

It's very easy to take this too far. I know I spent quite a while not going to clothing stores (for fear of someone taking exception with my clothing choices), not going to firearms ranges (for fear of increased chance of contact with a potential threat with the ability and opportunity to use lethal force), and not going outside (for fear of, well, anything and everything, 'cause who knows what's out there). This is, at best, counterproductive.

You must also take into consideration that the nature of the threat's attack may be to deny you access to areas or resources, either specific ones you're perceived as likely to be at (think of a crowd threatening patients at a 'controversial' medical provider) or more generally by creating an atmosphere of fear targeted at a certain demographic or group, a practice called "terrorism". This is certainly the case when it comes to trans people, and if all of us vanished from public view and hearing overnight, the attacker would consider this a success. This is unacceptable. I refuse to die inside before my body does, and in large part this is why I counterintuitively increase my visibility by wearing visible symbols like a progress pride flag.

Is there risk involved? Yes. But I am willing to accept that risk, and manage my overall risk in other ways, because it's worth it to be a beacon for allies and show the world that we can live happy, healthy, fulfilling lives.

Don't be DETECTED

Wait, this isn't on the list. Well, this is actually an alternate phrasing of the above step and mostly means the same thing. It usually refers to things like sensors and security systems, but this isn't as applicable to individuals since we're mostly dealing with the Mk1 Eyeball Observation Device. Camouflage is the obvious example of a countermeasure that allows you to be seen without being detected, but for most individuals walking around in camo tends to draw more attention instead of less. Though if you're willing to low crawl in a ghillie suit over a series of several days through a drainpipe and up a riverbed to make it into the Applebee's at the mall undetected, that's your business, and I can't say it wouldn't work, follow-through on the execution permitting.

Still, keep in mind that your threat may use alternate forms of detection, like forward-looking infrared "thermal" imaging, and this may require you to use specific countermeasures to avoid detection, like heat-reflecting Mylar "space" blankets. Research and intelligence counts for a lot here.

Don't be IDENTIFIED

There are two types of identification: positive and negative. We say "positively identify your target" for a reason, since we know it's not enough to simply know what the target isn't. Unfortunately, other people may not play by the same rules. In order for a threat to attack you, they must know that you should be a target. This requires that they either positively identify you as a target they are willing to engage (perhaps they know your face and did their research, or recognize the affiliation the symbols you wear represent) or negatively identify you as not a member of a group they're unwilling to engage ("definitley not white, open fire").

Denying the threat may involve interfering with their ability to observe you (obstacles, distractions, smoke, fog, choosing your outfit carefully, etc), deceiving the threat to prevent them from using the information they do observe to identify you (disguises, misinformation, cover identities, etc), or both. Just like there are many ways to not be there, there are many ways to not be identified. Get creative. A fresh eye or clean mind provided by a friend may be more helpful in evaluating the likely effectiveness of your efforts than your own, since you already know what's there and what you're looking for.

Like not being there, it is very easy to take this too far.

Part Two will be posted in a week, follow our socials to get notified!