Self Defense For Women

WHAT SHOULD YOU BE AFRAID OF?

Rape is the most common serious crime against women. Although the reported incidence varies somewhat from year to year, most authorities agree that the number of rapes far exceeds the numbers actually reported.

Rape is a very serious crime. Actually, it is serious enough to be legally classified right up there with murder and robbery as the most serious of crimes. Even if a minimum of force is used to carry out the rape, the possible consequences to the woman (pregnancy, AIDS, herpes, other venereal disease, and post-traumatic physical and psychological effects) are extreme, severe, and very long lasting.

There are many different kinds of rapists, ranging from the easily discouraged to the sociopath who has decided that he won't stop until you are dead, or he is.

Carjacking is on the increase in part because so many cars now have good anti-theft devices. People who steal cars are discovering that while it's getting harder to steal a car that's simply parked at the curb, it's relatively easy to get the car by taking the keys from the person who is driving it.

Purse snatching has been a crime for years and years.  Many women don't really pay much attention to how they are carrying their purse.  Often we swing it while we're walking or just loop it around our elbow casually as we stroll from store to store.  This is a huge mistake.

What you are essentially doing is inviting a purse-snatcher to help himself to your property.

Another common crime against women involves threats and threatening behavior by an attacker.  While men commit most crimes against women, threats can come from other women as well.  Your chances of resisting an attack by a woman are much more in your favor, but when a man threatens you, the situation can certainly change quickly.

Always, always, take threats seriously.  It may be hard for you to realize that your life is actually in danger but, if someone is making credible threats, you must take steps to protect yourself.  Most victims of domestic violence who are murdered (or murder is attempted) by their abusers were stalked, sometimes for days, sometimes for months, before the lethal attack. If your life is being threatened, you should consider yourself a stalking target, and take steps to protect yourself.

Finally, domestic violence is probably the most prevalent crime against women.  Being in an abusive relationship is not only tragic for you and your children, but it could also be deadly.  Domestic violence is the number one crime against women and resisting your attacker, even if you have loving feelings for him, can mean the difference between life and death.

Because this crime against women is the most common, we feel it warrants its own section.