Personal Safety Precautions
for Women
“What can I do to prevent a sexual assault?” and “What should I do
if I am attacked?” are questions to which we all
want answers. Practical
suggestions can be offered on preventative measures,
but in an attack situation, there are too many
variables for anyone to pretend to know “the
answer.” Your
reaction to an assault will depend on where it is
taking place, your assessment of the attacker, and
your personality and physical capabilities.
For Example, consider some of the advice that
you may have heard.
“Scream” This may work in a well-populated area, but it
may be to no avail in a field miles from the city.
Also, the attacker may react more violently in
an effort to shut you up.
“Fight Back” Acting aggressively will take him by surprise. It
may well be that the attacker expected a reaction of
submission and fear, so that this strategy may work.
Your aggressiveness, however, may get just the
reaction he was hoping for, and may challenge him to
proceed with the assault, possibly more violently.
“Don’t Fight Back,” Talk to him. Appeal to his male vanity.
There have been many situations where such a
strategy has worked successfully.
Keeping calm enough to talk to the attacker,
and catching him off guard with unexpected comments,
may divert his attention from the assault.
It has also been suggested that the attacker
views the victim as an object at the time of the
assault, so that talking to him may force him to see
you as a person.
He then finds himself incapable of deliberately
hurting you. Again,
it is difficult to know.
A non-aggressive reaction may be what angers
this attacker, on this particular occasion.
“Carry a weapon, a nail file, or any sharp object could be used.”
There are several problems with this advice.
Having a gun or a knife in your possession is illegal.
An attack situation usually involves surprise, so that
you will not have an opportunity to search through
your purse to find a nail file, or other such objects.
Any weapon that you might have, can be taken away and
used against you, particularly since most women are
not trained to defend themselves effectively.
“Take a self-defense course” By
all means! Women are not accustomed to acting
aggressively in their own defense.
Doing so effectively requires a lot of skill
and many years of training.
But even a course of limited duration has its
benefits. Hopefully,
you will be confident, more assertive, and most
importantly, more aware of risk situations and your own
vulnerability. In
a short course you may not acquire skills to
effectively overpower your attacker, but you may, at
least, be better prepared to free yourself from a hold,
and in this way provide yourself with an opportunity
to escape. But
taking a self-defense course is not the total answer
either. You may be confronted by an attacker who is far more skilled
at the martial arts than you are, he may have a weapon
in his possession, and he will have the element of
surprise on his side.
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