Self-defense for women: Not with me!

Violence directed against women is unfortunately still a major problem. In most cases, this is probably due to the fact that women are on average physically weaker than their male colleagues and are much more often victims of sexual harassment and violence than men. We want to give you some numbers and show you the possibilities of self-defense for women.

What is considered self-defense, when it is allowed to defend yourself and especially how, you will learn in the following videos:

When it comes to dealing with immediate danger from one or more people, things get dicey.

1. First, you should call for help to alert other passersby to your situation.
2. Try to flee to a safe place (locked house), to a safe area (other people, police) or simply further away from the danger.
3. If all this is of no use, there is only self-defense.
4. In order for you to be able to react better to the situation, it is recommended to take a self-defense course.

In the situation itself, i.e. when you have been pushed into a corner, often only physical resistance helps. It may even be advantageous if you strike, even though he does not trust you to do so.

• As soon as violence is exercised, it can be assumed that there will be legal repercussions. Of course, one has the right to defend oneself, and here the term self-defense comes up quickly. However, the use of force must always be the last resort.
• In a self-defense course for women, you will be taught how to deal specifically with physically superior attackers. Among other things, in self-defense, women learn how to confidently confront a man to scare him off or how to throw him to the ground to escape if necessary. The use of weapons for self-defense for women is also covered.
• At this point, you still have a chance to score by making a surprise attack. This first strike may be your last chance to counterattack, but if you are careless and use proper technique, it can end the altercation. There are some vulnerable areas of the body, for example, the eyes, neck, solar plexus, etc. Where you can strike and how you will learn in a course.
• The use of self-defense weapons is legally a bit difficult. In general, it is said that you may use anything that will avert the attack from the victim if all previous means have failed. But still, caution is advised. Especially if you seriously injure someone with a weapon, legal consequences must be expected.
• The most long-term option is learning martial art, but for that, this option is very effective. Martial arts train your body and mind, make you more confident and in case of emergency you know how to hit hard and in the right place. Learning martial arts usually takes years, but you won’t care about the size or weight of your attacker.

The first thing you should know is how situations arise that can become dangerous for you and how you can avoid them in advance. Because often you don’t need policemen with batons to defuse a situation. Prevention starts with your choice of clothing. High heels are sexy, but impractical. Ballerinas allow you to walk faster and, if necessary, take them off and step on them. Keep this dichotomy in mind when dressing for the evening.

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Situation – On the open street

Very often assaults, especially those with sexual intentions, happen in the street or on public transportation and here it is late at night in most cases. Alcohol and drugs can play a big role, especially during these hours. The perpetrators are therefore often negatively influenced in terms of their inhibition threshold and are usually additionally traveling in groups.

5 tips for prevention

1. You have the best chance of avoiding them if you are out and about in a group yourself. Sex offenders are quickest to shy away from male companionship.
2. Another option would be not to walk. Friends with cars or a call to the cab company will keep you from getting into the situation in the first place.
3. If you are forced to go home alone and on foot, use paths that you know and that are well-lit. This has the purpose that you can avoid possible groups of people, especially pure groups of men, at an early stage. Change sides of the street at a great distance beforehand to have a few feet of breathing room, or hide completely and let them pass if they haven’t noticed you at all. Alcohol can help you here, as it diminishes their senses.
4. The home phone is currently on the rise in Germany. You call a service center, tell them where you are and where you are going, talk to a nice employee and tell him where you are on a regular basis. In this way, you give the impression to the outside world that you are expected, and if something happens, the employee immediately calls the police.
5. Basic rule: Everything that avoids confrontation is correct because you can rarely count on help here.

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Situation – club, disco, concert, folk festival

Sex offenders are brazen. Assaults occur again and again at large public events. Interestingly, this sometimes even happens in crowds, but mostly in the less frequented places such as couples’ cuddle corners, toilets, or smokers’ corners.

Prevention

Again, the group protects. One more reason why women do not go to the toilet alone if it is not very crowded. Nothing will happen to you at the 13th place in a queue, but you should avoid staying alone in deserted places if there is no acquaintance within calling distance.

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Situation – in an apartment or house

Whether it is by burglary, someone has let the perpetrator in, or you have allowed yourself to be “towed” in good faith, being in a private apartment with a perpetrator who is willing to use violence is always bad because here you are usually on your own and have very limited space. He may even lock the door before forcibly approaching you. The worst thing about this situation is that it can last for hours if the perpetrator has a remote house.

3 tips for prevention

1. Should you, for whatever reason, want to put yourself in this situation, take precautions. The familiar agreement with the girlfriend “I’ll call you after 30 minutes, otherwise call the police” is meant nicely, but the help may already come too late. Or the girlfriend may fall asleep on the couch.
2. Keep family and friends up to date, send a picture of your date, and tell them who you will meet. You should also tell your counterpart, this can have a deterrent effect if necessary.
3. Here, prevention is simple: don’t take anyone you don’t know into your home, and don’t go home alone with anyone.

The study by the Federal Ministry for Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women, and Youth was surveyed throughout Europe and is currently the best means of demonstrating the seriousness of the situation. Here are some excerpts from it:

• 33% of women have experienced physical or sexual violence since their 15th birthday
• 22% have experienced physical or sexual violence within a partnership
• 43% have been subjected to psychological violence by a partner (coercion under threat of violence, ban on going out, public exposure)
• 33% have experienced physical or sexual violence by an adult in childhood
• 18% have been stalked, 21% of whom have been stalked for more than two years
• 55% have been sexually harassed, over half by colleagues, customers, or supervisors

These figures are significant enough, but as we all know, “the best” comes at the end:

• 67% of women did not report incidents of violence within a partnership to the police
• 5% of all women have been raped at least once since the age of 15

So you see, the problem is massive and those who want to protect themselves can only count on themselves in case of doubt. Interestingly, partners are very often involved in these violent actions. It seems to be a general social problem when violence against women is seen as normal by these “partners”. We now want to explain to you what possibilities you have to avoid dangerous situations and what self-protection for women against assaults can look like.

Update: 2023-05-28 / Affiliate Links / Bilder von der Amazon Product Advertising API