Bill Nelson, author of "Your Weapon Within," will speak at 7 p.m. Wednesday at the Frank Bridges Auditorium at Riverland Community College. The Crime Victims Resource Center and Target are sponsoring the talk.

Nelson's message to crime victims, particularly women, is to trust your instincts at all times.

"Your instincts are your weapon within. I will be speaking on what can go wrong when a crime victim uses Mace. I tell men and women what they need to know about rape. My message is harsh, this is what makes people come to hear it," Nelson said.

Nelson's talk will include having victims be aware of their surroundings to avoid trouble and what we can do to change the attitude that sexual assault is normal.

Nelson became interested in this topic when he went to St. Cloud State University. He took a Psychology of Women class and he was the only male in the class.

"I took the class to meet women. I met strong feminist women, they weren't just angry women. It got me to thinking about how men view women," said Nelson. Now four books later, he has thoroughly researched this subject.

Nelson's presentation will be a no-holds-barred talk on how women are still viewed by men. His talk will cover sexual assault and identify attitudes that men have about women.

"I like to talk to male athletic teams. Often these men will call women chicks and other derogatory names. They label them by their body parts. I identify these attitudes and look for solutions. I am not just pointing my finger at men, but men are generally the ones who commit crimes against women," said Nelson.

If a guy has an attitude problem, Nelson has found, he will blame women for it. He says men will give excuses for a sexual assault because a woman dressed a certain way.

"I have found that men will listen to another man about this topic better then with a woman. My delivery won't put men on the defense. I want them to be accountable for the way they speak and look at how they view women," said Nelson.

Nelson said men and women are treated so differently and he has seen and heard how women feel and understands their anger from

that first psychology class.

"I want men to come to my talk. Women know how they are treated, men need to understand it," said Nelson.