|
In today’s world, the need to be able to defend yourself properly against an assailant is, unfortunately, a necessary evil. By self defense, I am not advocating everybody should have to be a martial arts expert. There are very simple tools available that, in many circumstances could be very useful to a potential victim.
The internet allows individuals far more access to data which many would prefer not be known. A recent article in the Wall Street Journal titled ”FBI stats show many colleges understate campus crime” (Oct 23, 2006) reports that many campuses are understating violent crimes such as robberies or sexual assaults. Recent FBI data shows that colleges may be describing themselves as safer than they really are. The data collected by the colleges would also not include the crimes committed in the nearby community, as that falls under a different jurisdiction.
Women are at far higher risk of being victimized than men. The statistics are very sobering. Approximately 20-25% of women will be raped during their college career, 90% of women know the person who sexually assaulted or raped them and only 5% of rape incidents are reported to the police. The need for womens’ self defense products is obvious. Products such as pepper spray, stun guns and personal alarms are all very effective deterrents.
Pepper spray was once the sole province of the police and military, but this is not the case anymore. Pepper spray can now be concealed in a tube no bigger than a lipstick, or a pen. It is easily transportable and the effects are not permanent. Spraying pepper spray at an assailant will temporarily cause the assailant to become disoriented and blinded, allowing you to escape. For pepper spray to be the most effective, it has to be aimed at the eyes. Pepper spray is inexpensive and unobtrusive to carry.
Stun guns work by providing a high amount of voltage (from 150,000 to 900,000 volts!) in a short burst that causes the assailants nervous system to be temporarily disrupted and allow the potential victim a chance to escape. Advances in stun gun technology allow stun guns that are smaller than the palm of your hand to deliver enough jolt to disrupt a large male. There are also stun gun cell phones. It is actually a stun gun that looks amazingly like an actual cell phone. Stun guns are not allowed in some states and cities, so you need to check before you purchase one. A Stun gun has an advantage over pepper spray since you can shock any part of the assailants body, it does not have to be directed to the face or head. It’s disadvantage is you have to be within arms length to use it whereas pepper spray has a longer reach.
Another approach is to keep a personal alarm with you. The idea with a personal alarm is to make a very piercing, loud shriek to attract attention and hopefully ward off any potential attacker. This can be very useful in many circumstances if there is someone around to hear the alarm or it can surprise the assailant long enough for you to run. This is a purely defensive strategy, whereas with pepper spray and stun guns you can be more proactive in your defense with some offensive capabilities.
In today’s world, being prepared is not an option, it is a necessity. Products such as stun guns, pepper spray and personal alarms are effective, inexpensive tools available to help people defend themselves and not become another crime statistic.
www.safetymyway.com |
|
|
|
