Reduce the Risk

Women Educating in Self-Defense Training

As women, we have been told what NOT to do since we were babies. Even if it were possible to follow all the advice, the "Don'ts" will not stop a determined assaulter. And the feeling that you are not doing the "right thing" or are somehow "wrong," may stop you from trying to escape or to defend yourself at all.

If you want to know what you are doing wrong, most people will be glad to tell you. What is critical for each one of us is to identify what we are doing RIGHT. If we're still alive, we know we're doing lots of things right.

Use Awareness and Avoidance
When you are aware of what is happening around you, you have better odds of seeing a developing problem and getting away before it becomes a personal threat. Listen to, and act on, your own feelings about situations; they are proven, valid evidence that something is happening around you and to you.

We want to be aware of and avoid potentially dangerous situations whenever possible. One place is not necessarily more dangerous than another. Any place is not a problem unless it has an attacker in it. If you walk past a dark park and you are nervous, it may be because of fear of the dark or it may be because someone is there. When we don't know, it is better to avoid or to research from a safe distance. Your Intuition is correct. Trust yourself and your feelings, and then Act on them.

On a physical level, we can become aware of noises and where they come from, what they mean; of movement, and changes in light patterns or shadows. Respond to your environment instead of only wishing that a problem will go away. Ignoring a problem only allows it to grow unchecked.

Statistics and Survival
As women we have a one in four chance of being violently assaulted during our life- times. The statistics concerning assault tell us that it can happen to anyone, at any time, in any place, and by anybody. There is no reliable profile of the attacker, nor of the "when, where, what, and how." Fortunately, all statistics are only an indication of the probability that something "might" happen. When an assault is happening to you, it's at the rate of one hundred percent, no matter what the statistics indicated before.

You can be a positive statistic of escape and survival rather than a negative one. Every day many women avoid dangerous situations and defend themselves successfully from a variety of assaults. We have been doing this for so long we behave as if it is natural to take the "usual precautions".

There is good evidence that the more strategies we have for personal safety, the less likely we are to need a physical defense. It is genuinely important to discover the things that you CAN DO, and to apply them to your life in a positive way.

Women Educating in Self-Defense Training can be contacted at 2349 St. Catherine's St., Vancouver, B.C., V5T 3X8, (604) 876-6390.