WOMEN - 5 Self-Defense Moves Every Woman Needs to Know

by Rebekah Sager

With millions of women heading back to college campuses across America, and statistics being what they are about sexual assault, we felt the sober topic of defending yourself  was a subject that needed to be addressed.

A recent study from the Department of Justice estimated that 25 percent of college women will be victims of rape or attempted rape before they graduate within a four-year college period, and that women between the ages of 16 to 24 will experience rape at a rate that’s four times higher than the assault rate of all women.

“I also read a horrible article recently that college administrators are advising their students to adopt the attitude of passive resistance: if you are attacked, you should pee your pants, vomit or tell the attacker that you have a disease. That advice is RIDICULOUS,” says third-degree black belt Helen Anzalone Gordon, who recently created the YOU CAN FIGHT App - the first self-defense instructional app designed specifically for women.

Additionally, we chatted with Tracy and Charley Vega of the site Simple Self-Defense for Women.com, and asked them for five tips to give women young and old for staying safe from bad guys.

They keep their tips simple because they believe in a moment of stress, people can’t usually remember anything too complicated.

1. Prevention: Keep your distance. Everyone has a personal space they understand and uniformly it’s about 7-10 feet. Stay on guard and maintain your distance from people you percieve as a possible threat.

2. Throw Something: If someone is continuing to move closer to within your space, take something heavy out of your bag and throw it in the direction of their eyes. This is mostly to give you time to get away.

3. Pepper Spray: It’s legal in all 50 states, and can be carried anywhere except into federal buildings.  The great thing about pepper spray is that it can be very effective even from as far away as 12 feet.

4. Be Proactive: Avoid being a victim by being a aware of you environment at all times.

5. Be smart: Don’t talk on your phone or text while walking down the street. Watch your drink at a bar at all times. Never get into a car with someone you don’t know. Don’t take a guy back to your place unless you believe you know him REALLY well. Stay in groups, even small ones. It’s always better than being solo. If you have to fight, go for the eyes and the balls.

These are all things our mother’s and father’s probably told us growing up, but the world has become a more distracting place. Smart phones, Google Glasses, Google maps, these are all devices that can both help us and occupy our attention when we need to be focused on our environments.

Be conscious of the world around you–you can’t afford not to be.