ESTADÍSTICAS CRIMINALES

Para qué sirven? A quien le importa si el índice de criminalidad es del uno por mil o del dos por mil? Por lo general se tiende a usar las estadísticas criminales para una de las siguientes dos razones: ya sea para asustar a la gente haciéndolos pensar que son las víctimas potenciales para un crimen, o para convercerlos que es improbable que sean víctimas de un crimen, de tal manera que nada tienen que hacer para protegerse.

AWARE no está en el negocio de andar asustando a la gente. Nosotros creemos que cada mujer debiera saber que un crimen pudiera sucederle a ella, y ella debería saber como evitarlo, si es posible, o como enfrentarlo si no es posible evitarlo.

Do you know the rate of fires in US households or businesses? Probably not, but you know some basics of fire prevention and what to do if you find yourself in a building with smoke or flames.

PREGUNTAS GENERALES

Casi siempre es mejor defenderse, particularmente si usted está entrenada para ello apropiadamente. Las mujeres que se defienden a menudo resultan con menos heridas, y tienen máyores posibilidades de detener el ataque, dependiendo del tipo de ataque que sea, y se recuperarán más rápidamente.

People who've never been in a situation where they wanted to fight often think that they couldn't fight, but you will find, if you're faced with a life or death situation, that it's very easy to fight. But you need to know how to fight back in order for that instinct to be effective. Getting training of the type that AWARE and other organizations can provide can be critical to overcoming that emotional resistance to fighting.

A tremendous amount. It's not necessary to take years of training in order to become an effective fighter or in order to develop a personal protection plan that works for you. In a couple of hours or a few days, you can become proficient in a number of different techniques and learn something about how you apply them.

VIOLACIÓN

La mayoría de las autoridades están de acuerdo que el número de violaciones excede en gran cantidad a las que son denunciadas.

Plenty serious. Serious enough to be classified legally right up there with murder and robbery as the most serious crimes. Even if a minimum of force is used to carry out the rape, the possible consequences to the woman (VIH-SIDA, herpes, otras enfermedades ven%eacutereas, y efectos físicos y psicológicos post-traumáticos) 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.

ROBO DEL CARRO Y SECUESTRO SIMULTÁNEO

Carjacking is on the increase in part because so many cars 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 easier to get the car if you take it from the person who is driving it.

Be aware of the possibility that it might happen. Look around you when you approach your car in a parking lot or on the street to see if anyone is close by. Have your keys in your hand so that you can get into your car very quickly and lock the car immediately. Keep the car doors locked and the windows rolled up nearly all the way, or all the way, when you're driving. Whenever you stop, be sure that you can see the road between your car and the car in front of you. That will give you enough space to maneuver if you have to suddenly pull out to one side or the other. Always check the back seat area before entering your car.

If someone approaches you while you are getting into your car, it might be the best thing to simply let them take the car, as long as they're not trying to take you with it. If someone is threatening you with a weapon, you are entitled to defend yourself. You're not protecting your car from the carjacker, you're protecting yourself from the carjacker. The one thing you should never do is let the carjacker take both you and the car.

PURSE SNATCHING

One way to prevent purse snatching is not to carry a purse, or to carry it in a way that makes it quite inaccessible, such as wearing it under your coat. Many women think that wearing a shoulder bag with the strap diagonally across their body is a good idea but, in fact, if someone grabs the purse in that position and tries to run with it, it can catch the strap around your neck. Keeping your purse close to your body and your arm over it makes it a little bit harder for someone to grab the purse. Also, being aware of who is around you is also very important.

That's a decision that you have to make on the spot, and that decision is influenced by a lot of different factors. If the person is trying to injure you to get the purse, you have the right to defend yourself to protect against being harmed. In some situations, women make the decision that they would rather give up their purse and assume that the person is going to leave with the purse and not bother them further. If that's the decision that you make, that's a reasonable thing to do. If you decide that you want to fight for your purse, you should know how to fight and you should make sure that your attacker is not armed.

STALKING

Stalking occurs when someone is following you, harassing you, calling you on the telephone, watching your house, or sending you mail you don't want. That is stalking behavior. Stalking is illegal in many places, and you may need to check with a lawyer to find the precise definition in your area.

They certainly can be! Many often change behavior over time and escalate the frequency or the intensity of their contacts.

Consider that you could be in extreme danger. Report it to the police. Keep a very careful log of every incident and every situation. If you know the person who is stalking you, get a restraining order, even if you think it will be violated. Contact AWARE for more information.

ATTEMPTED OR THREATENED MURDER

Absolutely! 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. Report it to the police. Get a restraining order. Find a local organization that can help you. You may decide to make yourself hard to find. If you want to move to a new location, you must not let your address or telephone number be known to people; use a post office box for all of your correspondence. Talk to AWARE -- there are literally hundreds of things that you can do to protect yourself.

CHILDREN AND SELF-PROTECTION

There are a number of programs springing up that claim to teach self-defense for kids. Be cautious about them. Most local martial arts groups and karate clubs are great for exercise and confidence building, but lousy for self-defense.

Some Model Mugging / Impact studios, however, are starting to offer suitable kids' programs.

The following are some useful tips, though they may be applicable to slightly older children:

1. Establish a "family password" and drill your kids so that they understand that if anyone ever comes to pick them up at school "because Mommy or Daddy is sick" that person MUST give them the family password, or the child should not leave with them. Kids like family secrets, and should have no trouble dealing with this concept.

2. Tell them success stories about kids defending themselves, such as the 12 year old girl who was recently accosted by a man with a gun on her way to school. He told her to get into his van. She was more afraid of the van than the gun (wise child), and managed to break free and run away. He didn't shoot at her, and was later picked up by police and charged with several child murders. The point is that it is important to resist strongly and early in the interaction, not to go along (in the van, for example), hoping that the situation will somehow get better later on.

3. Role play with them in a low key way, so that they really know how to respond to a variety of situations. One girl who was walking home from school when she was accosted, and had trouble running away because she was afraid to drop her schoolbooks, fearing that her father would be angry at her if she lost the books. Parents spend a lot of time trying to get kids to understand and adopt our usual adult priorities, and it is very important that kids understand that all those normal rules are suspended if they are in personal danger!

4. Give them "Eddie Eagle" training about firearms. The message of the Eddie Eagle program is, if you see a gun, don't touch it, leave the area immediately, tell an adult. This is critical for even very young children to understand, since they might come across a firearm in the home of a friend. We can tell you how to get Eddie Eagle materials (coloring book, etc) if you are interested.

5. Far more important than formal classes are the attitudes about self-protection that parents convey to kids. If Mommy is alert, unafraid, and self-reliant, the kids will tend to be so, too. Teach them that it is OK to scream, really loud, if they are in danger. If someone covers their mouth, teach them that it is alright to kick and scratch (not wildly, but targeted areas such as groin, eyes, throat and knees).

6. Don't have backpacks and clothing with the child's name visibly on it. It allows a stranger to call the child by name, and kids are less suspicious of (and more likely to obey) someone who knows their name.

7. Remember that the media strive to entertain as well as inform, and horror stories involving children get a huge amount of press and air time, because they sell a lot of papers and make people watch the TV, NOT BECAUSE THEY HAPPEN OFTEN. Kidnapping is every parent's worst nightmare, but it is NOT a common crime. I'm not even sure it is increasing, though the "extensive media coverage" may make it feel that way. While teaching your children how to protect themselves from that, don't forget to teach them how to protect themselves from much more common threats, such as school yard bullies, friends experimenting with drugs, purse snatchers, etc.

Need a good answer here.

DOMESTIC ABUSE

Oddly enough, the answer isn't always obvious. The Ryka ROSE foundation provides the following questions to help you determine whether you are in an abusive relationship. Do you recognize yourself, or a friend, here?

Does the person you love ...

• Track all of your time?
• Constantly accuse you of being unfaithful?
• Discourage your relationships with family and friends?
• Prevent you from working or attending school?
• Criticize you for little things?
• Anger easily when drinking or on drugs?
• Control all finances and force you to account for what you spend?
• Humiliate you in front of others?
• Destroy your personal property or sentimental items?
• Hit punch, slap, kick, or bite you or your children?
• Threaten to hurt you or your children?
• Use or threaten to use a weapon against you?
• Force you to have sex against your will?

If you find yourself saying yes to some of these questions, you need to learn more about domestic abuse right away.

It may be harder to recognize, and to acknowledge, that it is happening to you. There are strong emotional and social forces that can keep even a very abusive relationship going for a long, long time. It can also be emotionally more difficult to decide that you need to take strong action to protect yourself, but knowing your attacker does not change your right to protect yourself. If you're in an abusive situation, you should not try to get through it alone. You should get help from a local shelter, a local women's group, or an organization like AWARE.

Get help. Don't try to go it alone. You may temporarily increase the danger you are in if you try to separate from your abuser, so get help to plan that step carefully. Some sources for that help are local women's shelters (look in the phonebook or ask at a police station).

MARTIAL ARTS

Martial arts are wonderful for exercise and confidence building, but we feel they are overrated for self-defense because they take so much work to master and maintain, they are often ill-taught, and because police have found that defensive tactics and similar techniques are more effective "on the street." Another problem is having to "pull" strikes and kicks with a partner. You'll do on the street what you do in practice.

MODEL MUGGING / IMPACT

An effective 20 to 25 hour course teaching women how to defend themselves, and render the assailant unconscious, whether they're on their feet, on the ground, or actually pinned.

Look in your local white or yellow pages under self-defense for Model Mugging, Impact, or Bamm.

PERSONAL ALARMS, RAPE WHISTLES

A personal alarm is a noisemaker, usually battery-operated, that makes a loud, piercing noise when it is set off.

Believing that someone will come to your rescue when you blow a whistle or scream is a wonderful fairy tale. Don't fall for it.

Not only are noise-makers and rape whistles ineffective at deterring crime, they are likely to do more harm than good, for several reasons.

Counting on an alarm to summon aid means that you are depending on someone else to come forth to rescue you. That is, you are betting your life on the hope that someone will hear the alarm, and will respond, and will be capable of stopping the attack. That's a lot of 'ifs' that are out of your control.

The act of activating the alarm or blowing a whistle can take anywhere from 2 to 20 seconds, but the outcome of an attack is usually decided within the first 8 to 10 seconds. So, if the noise doesn't work, you may be out of time, the loser, before you can try other options.

Instead of just making noise, you could be doing much more constructive things that would decrease your likelihood of victimization, such as running away, kicking, striking effective blows, counterattacking with pepper spray, or reaching for a weapon.

STUN GUNS

Stun guns are hand-held, battery-powered electronic devices designed to deliver an electric shock to an attacker. They are not guns in the traditional sense of the word.

A stun gun has two metal contacts which need to be pressed against the attacker. Similar devices, known as "Tasers," propel two metal barbs over a distance of several yards. These barbs are connected to the hand-held unit by wires and are intended to attach themselves to the attacker.

According to their manufacturers, stun guns stop attackers by interfering with their neurological functions or by causing rapid fatigue of their muscles.

It depends on where you live. In the United States, certain states and municipalities have laws which restrict the ownership or use of stun guns by civilians. Given the vast number of jurisdictions in this country, and the rapidity with which laws can change, it is necessary for each individual to research the laws of her own state and municipality. You could check with a lawyer, your police department, your state's attorney general, or perhaps a dealer of self-protection equipment. You should probably check with more than one of these sources, since experience has shown that incorrect and conflicting answers are common. Another option is to read the laws yourself. Copies of your state's statutes can be found even at some small public libraries. Also, courthouses typically have law libraries which are open to the public.

As an example, according to current Massachusetts General Law, Chapter 140, Section 131J, stun guns and Tasers are illegal.

Based on manufacturers' and dealers' claims, one would think that stun guns are remarkably powerful defensive tools. Unfortunately, it appears that reality falls short of the claims.

Several of AWARE's instructors have taken a course which, in part, trains its students to be able to quickly and accurately use a handgun while under stress, in pain, or even if wounded. One of the exercises ran as follows:

One by one, each student faced a target at a distance of about five yards, with his or her handgun fully loaded and holstered. Standing behind the student was an instructor with a stun gun. The instructor applied the stun gun to the student's arm, leg, or back (students with cardiac problems were barred from participating in this exercise). The shock of the stun gun was the signal for the student to draw her handgun and to empty it as quickly and as accurately as possible. The instructor ceased applying the stun gun when the student began to draw.

The reactions of the students varied a bit. Some grunted or shouted when "hit" with the stun gun. Some lowered their stance into a crouch or went to one knee. Others showed no reactions except for drawing their guns. All were able to quickly draw their guns and deliver a cylinder- or magazine-full of center-zone shots. Hundreds of students have successfully completed this exercise.

So much for a "mere touch" completely immobilizing an attacker or a "half-second burst" scrambling his mind.

Yes, the shock of the stun gun did hurt, but it was not incapacitating. Indeed, the stun gun manufacturers say that it is not the pain, but rather the neurological or muscle-fatiguing effects that defeat an attacker. However, what is going to be an attacker's reaction to pain? He's going to want to stop the source or get away from it. It's probable that applying a stun gun for five or ten seconds, or longer, could disable an attacker. Do you think you would be able to hold a stun gun against a stronger, struggling attacker for that long? If so, do you even need the stun gun?

Remember that stun guns are contact weapons; they have to actually touch the attacker. You are precluded from taking advantage of certain tactical options, such as employing cover. The Taser partially offsets this disadvantage, and also provides some opportunity for longer application of the electric shock. Nonetheless, even these devices have questionable effectiveness. A prime example was the Rodney King incident. Also, Tasers offer only one or two "shots" of probes before needing to be reloaded.

While stun guns might be helpful in some situations, such as police officers dealing with passively resistant subjects, they have serious shortcomings for self-defense use.

Based on our experiences, we are unwilling to entrust our lives to stun guns.

CHEMICAL DEFENSIVE SPRAYS

The three primary ones on the market today are OC (Oleoresin Capsicum) - Pepper Spray, an inflammatory; CS (Orthochlorobenzalmalononitrile) - Super Tear Gas, an irritant; and CN (Chloroacetophenone) - Mace, a lacrimator.

The original MaceTM, which consisted solely of CN, was one of the first aerosol defensive sprays used by police. Unfortunately, it is not very effective on the type of individuals that you may have to use it on, such as people who are under the influence of alcohol, drugs, in an emotional rage, or mentally unbalanced. It's also not effective on animals.

Pepper spray (OC) works entirely differently. It's an inflammatory, instead of an irritant or a lacrimator, which means its effect is primarily physiological, that is, it does not rely for its effectiveness on pain compliance. It causes the eyelids to slam shut or spasm, blood vessel dilation, brachial tube constriction when inhaled, mucus membrane secretion and blood to rush to the upper body. It is effective on many people and animals, including the mentally ill and those under the influence of drugs and alcohol. It may not be effective on some violent, goal-oriented people and hardened attack dogs. Nothing is 100 percent effective.

Pepper spray is the natural derivative of cayenne red pepper. It's an oily resin driven by propellant from a canister. The carrier for the resin is either anhydrous alcohol, solvent, or sometimes even water. If you're going to get OC, you should purchase a product which is rated a Scoville Heat Unit (SHU) of 1 and a half million or more. Anything with approximately a 1 to 5 percent concentration of that kind of SHU will probably be effective. Sometimes higher concentrations do not atomize well, and are therefore less effective. They all need to be tested before carrying. They also need to be shaken at least once a month because the ingredients do separate.

That depends on your locality. We are not lawyers, nor do we dispense legal advice. The legality of these products runs the gamut from anyone can buy it to, as in Massachusetts, it's considered ammunition and you need a license to purchase and possess it, to locations like New York where currently it's illegal no matter what. It's also illegal under FAA regulations to have either in checked luggage or carry-on luggage on any airplane. Again, it is incumbent on you to verify the legality of any device or tool that you use. We cannot be responsible for changing laws or interpretations of laws.

Again this depends on the laws in your area. It can vary from the hardware store to a firearms store to a supermarket.

Police carry OC spray, but they generally aren't allowed to until they take a class. You should have the same training. Most failures of OC to effectively control a situation stem from the inappropriate application or use: too near, too far, or too much spray used.

AWARE (and other resposible organizations) gives a one-evening class (taught by certified instructors) that covers what OC is, how it differs from CS and CN, what the various differences in concentration, canister size, valve type, etc. mean in terms of how it should be used, how to carry it (and how not to), how to use it, and what sorts of people/situations it might not be effective for. Proper use of OC is not like hosing a bug down with a can of Raid. Students also get to practice with inert, mint-scented, sprays against one another and the instructors -- so you can start to develop experience and muscle memory for how to use it effectively.

PERSUADER

A 5 1/2" long cylinder made of plastic or metal which you attach your keys to. It can be used for pressure point manipulation, locks, or striking.

They can be purchased from some hardware and firearms stores, mail-order, or at an AWARE or similar certified class you should take before carrying it. Just because you have one, doesn't mean it can be used effectively without training.

FIREARMS

There are several different kinds of firearms training. There's basic safety and marksmanship training that everyone who has a gun needs, and there is more specialized defensive firearms training that is specifically for those who have guns for self-protection (as opposed to hunting, or sports).

For basic safety and marksmanship, you can usually find good training quite locally. Regardless of what you might think of the NRA, they have created excellent introductory courses. You don't have to join the NRA to take these courses. Two courses that are quite good in theory are Home Firearm Safety, and Basic Pistol. Whether the courses are actually good in practice depends on who teaches them. You can ask the NRA for a list of certified instructors in your area, and try to pick out a woman if that would make you more comfortable, or you can go to a couple of local gunshops and ask what instructors they recommend, or you can call local gunclubs and ask whether they offer instruction.

For defensive firearms training, it is wise to be very, very selective. There are a number of good, private gun schools around the country. Several of these that AWARE is acquainted with are Defense Training International in Laport, CO, Firearms Academy of Seattle in Kirkland, WA, Gunsite Training Center in Paulden,AZ, InSights Training Center in Bellevue, WA, Lethal Force Insitute in Concord, NH, and Thunder Ranch in Mountain Home, TX. Others are also very good. Additionally, there is a list of gun schools that appears from time to time on the Internet. Please note that AWARE makes no claims about any of these places, and does not recommend specific schools.

If you are interested in hosting a course for women taught by AWARE staff, contact us for information.

The very best way to figure out what kind of gun is right for you is to go to a club or a course where you have the opportunity to shoot several different types and sizes of guns, so that you can learn about their differences, what they feel like to shoot, how easily you are able to handle them, and how accurate you are with them. Pinpoint accuracy isn't necessary for self-defense, but the better you can shoot at a paper target the more confidence you will have in your ability to shoot under stress.

Most gun magazines run articles on the selection of a self-defense gun and also reviews of individual firearms. Note that not all articles may be completely objective.

There are also several excellent books that tell you a lot about what you need to know if you have a gun. See the AWARE resource list for recommendations.

There is an excellent magazine called Women & Guns that has many articles about all aspects of firearms and many reviews of particular guns and other equipment. AWARE board members, one of them a lawyer, write some of these articles. If you can't find this magazine on your local newsstands, you can get a sample issue from the editor:

Women & Guns
267 Linwood Avenue
PO Box 488 Station C
Buffalo, NY 14209-9930