I'm a forensic researcher who studies rapists - these are the two walking ... trends now

The way you walk could make you a target for potential predators, a forensic expert has warned.

Alex, a forensic psychology student, said that evidence suggests male predators  look for specific characteristics when they choose a victim - from the width of their stride to the way they hold their arms.

In a recent TikTok video, she referenced a study that looked at men convicted of rape, assault, murder and kidnappings to uncover the methodology behind selecting a victim.

Inmates overwhelmingly selected women who looked scared, uncomfortable or walked with a certain awkwardness that indicated they wouldn't put up a good fight if attacked.

The way you walk and your body language says a lot about who you are as a person - whether you're shy, awkward or confident - all this can be discerned by your stride and the way you carry yourself. 

Researchers at Brock University conducted the study in 2013, which they showed imprisoned predators videos of women walking and asked them to select which type of woman they would select as a victim.

'Out of all the women in the videos, only a select few were unanimously chosen by the incarcerated males,' Alex said in the video, as reported on by UpWorthy.

'You may think these women were chosen because of something to do with their physical appearance such as their body size, if they were small and petite, certain hair color or a certain overall physical appearance,' she continued.

'Instead, what the women all had in common was the way that they walked and how they generally held themselves in public.'

The women who were targeted in the study had a stride that was too big or too small for the size of their body, had their arms crossed or locked close to their body or else swung them wildly at their sides. 

They also appeared to be unaware of their surroundings, took smaller steps, and walked

read more from dailymail.....