Suprasternal Notch and Women

This week in the latest Criminal Minds television show I saw this gesture. It is not often we see this gesture but the police and those that help victims of crimes against women are most likely to see it.

When woman touches the area between the neck and their breast bone it is a pacifying behavior. I first learned of this in the book What Every BODY is Saying: An Ex-FBI Agent's Guide to Speed-Reading People where the author describes how he would often see this gesture in the victims of assault.

I have often seen a variation of this gesture when women touch and play with their necklaces.

When you see this you are generally looking at someone who is experiencing some discomfort, emotional trauma, and/or insecurities.◦

Suprasternal Notch and Women