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After a particularly
violent assault or during times when a serial rapist is traumatizing
a community, self defense instructors will often approach
local rape crisis centers offering free self defense instruction
to anyone interested. It is common for local rape crisis centers
and police departments to issue the following statement: "These
young women should NOT learn to defend themselves because
the rapist might turn violent!"
Can you believe it? I wonder
where these people get their information. Research about self-defense
and assault shows very clearly and conclusively that determined
resistance works most of the time when the intent of the attacker
is personal harm.
The frustrated question
most instructors ask themselves is: "What do people think
RAPE is if not violent?"
Many instructors point
out, "We are the only animal that raises our young, especially
our females, without self preservation skills. We are the
only animal that teaches them that if they are attacked, it's
better NOT to resist?"
I think that's a great example.
Imagine you're a Mommy Wolverine telling your young daughter
wolverine not to fight back if attacked - that she'll be better
off if she doesn't make the attacker mad. A comparison like
this can often help someone see the how ludicrous the societal
myths are.
It wouldn't be valid for
a wolverine, and it's no more valid for a human. In most attacks
where the intent is personal harm rather than robbery, the
more ways you fight (the look in your eyes, voice, body language,
hands, knees, teeth, etc.) and the more intensely you fight
back, the less your chance of coming to harm. That's a simple
fact shown over and over again in research results. When the
intent is robbery rather than personal harm, your risk of
injury goes up if you fight back – which is why we recommend
that you give up your stuff without fighting if someone is
threatening you in a robbery.
Your first choice is to
leave the confrontation if you can, by running away, yelling,
or pulling away. If an unarmed attacker is grabbing you, an
initial move can be a heel-palm to the nose, or a full-force
jab to the eyes with your bunched fingers. You can also strike
to the head and groin - or grab and twist the testicles with
all your adrenaline-driven strength.
In an attack, you have to
be willing to risk some injury in order to escape. If someone
is pointing a gun or waving a knife at you, it is safer to
yell and run away most of the time, even if you have to jump
through a window to do so. If someone is grabbing you with
a gun to your head, remember that the gun is a lot more dangerous
when it is pointed at someone rather than away from someone.
If someone is holding a knife to your throat, you might want
to grab the knife, even if it means cutting your hands.
If an attacker is trying
to control you by threatening another person, usually the
safest thing you can do for everyone is to escape yourself
instead of allowing yourself to be made more helpless by letting
someone tie you up or take you away. The fact that one of
you has gotten away and can go get help makes it more dangerous
for the attacker to continue.
Studies show that resistance
works against sexual assault most of the time. The more powerful
the resistance and the more ways you resist, the less the
chance of coming to harm. According to the FBI in the United
States, just one strong move of ANY kind stops most attacks!
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