Dear Ann Landers,
he New Orleans Times-Picayune runs a col-umn called Working Woman by syndicated columnist Niki Scott. I hope you will find room for this piece in your space, Ann. I think it could cut down on the number of rapes in this country. -A Constant Reader

Dear Constant,
What a splendid contribution. I thank you on be-half of all the women you have helped today. Thanks, too, to Univer-sal Press Syndicate for permission to reprint this column. A Rapist Tells You How to Avoid Him Niki Scott "If you're a working woman, I'm looking for you, and you'd better hope I don't find you. I'm a rapist. "I'm not going to tell you why I'm a rapist, but I'll say this. I do it be-cause I like it. It's like hunting, but easier." This is the way the letter began. It had no return address and arrived in an ordinary batch of mail. My heart stopped while I read it. I'm printing it because it rings true and because although his boast-ing is frightening and infuriating, we can learn from it. We need all the help we can get. The letter continues: "As I said, working women are my game, and they're usually pretty easy targets. Mostly that's because they travel by themselves, work by themselves and are so dumb about taking care of themselves. "I live in a big city, but I often hunt in the suburbs. Small offices in big buildings or small businesses are good places to find women alone. That's where you might find me at the end of a day. Most of the time, a simple lock on the door stops me, and I stay away from places where I see people coming and going. "I've never been caught, never even come close, and that's because I don't take stupid chances. I don't break in to get at a woman I want. Most often I can walk right in-or she lets me in. "The thing is that I look pretty harmless and pretty ordinary. In fact, I try to look like I belong wherever I am. I'm neither big or small. I'm deliberately clean cut. Nobody who knows me would think I'd do such a thing. "Darkness is my friend, but I don't always hunt after dark. The end of the workday is my time. Everybody's too interested in getting the hell out to pay much attention to what's going on around them. "Shopping centers around closing time are good, too. Many of the women I've raped came my way because they were dumb. They stayed late and parked a long way from the store. They locked their keys in their cars or left their lights on and ran the batteries down. "I pick my women because of their situations, which I've studied be-fore I move. Looks don't mean a lot to me, but she's always alone in a place where nobody else will come, or I get her to go to one. You'd be amazed how easy that is. "About self-defense for women: Don't make me laugh. I don't go after a woman who looks like she'd be able to whip me in a fight. "The best protection from me you working women have is company or a locked door you're smart enough not to open when I ask. More than that, the best protection from me is to remember there are lots of guys like me out here who are looking for you."