When it comes to personal safety, the best thing we can do to empower ourselves is to be proactive. With that in mind, here are seven safety tips for women.

1. Be aware and alert. Busy women, especially moms and women who have a steady routine, can quickly develop tunnel vision and lose sight of what’s going on around them. Situational awareness is critical to your safety. When entering a room or building, please take note of your surroundings and the people in them. Where are the exits? Is anything different in your environment? Is anyone acting shady or out of character?

2. Always have your phone with you in case you need to call for help or in case you get lost and need to use your GPS, but…

3. Keep your eyes up—NOT on your phone. Wait until you’re safely inside your destination or your car (preferably with the doors locked and the windows rolled up) to take a call or send a text.

4. Always guard your purse, or consider not carrying one. The safest thing to do is get a wallet that will fit in your pocket and keep all your essential stuff—credit cards, money, driver’s license, car keys—on your person rather than in your purse. If you must carry a purse, keep the strap wrapped around your shopping cart’s handle to help thwart potential purse-snatchers.

5. Carry a flashlight—preferably a very bright one that comes with a strobe function so you can use it to signal for help if need be. Keep one in your purse and one in your car, and put a reminder on your phone to regularly check the batteries.

6. Always lock the door behind you. Lock your car doors, the door to your home, any door, and every door—even in a public or private bathroom stall.

7. “Be weird. Be rude. Stay alive.” That’s the slogan for Crime Junkie, a true-crime podcast hosted by two very safety-savvy women. If someone makes you feel unsafe or uncomfortable, don’t be afraid to speak up, yell for help, or remove yourself from the situation—even if it means breaching social etiquette. Better to be briefly embarrassed than permanently harmed.

Bonus tip: Carry a personal protection device like the TOPPS Security key fob. Discreet and easily accessible, the Topps Security Key Fob sends a silent alert directly to local emergency services personnel with your exact GPS coordinates, meaning that help is immediately on the way. It has a battery that lasts for five days and a quick-release function to let you easily detach it from your keys and place it on the charger it comes with.

Not even the Topps Security Key Fob should trick you into letting your guard down, but it can give you added peace of mind when you’re on the go. Take charge of your safety with a smart attitude and Topps.