A Message From One of Our Sisters
Reprinted with Permission

The DFWAA has hosted a Self Defense class/workshop in the past and due to this recent unfortunate event, we decided that it would be a good idea to do this again. We want to take this a step further and video tape the session to make available online. More information on this event is yet to come and we will be posting all the details on our site. In the meantime, here are some links and information our sister Claudia Garcia gathered for us to share.

Staying Safe on the Mean Streets of Life

Others won't always rush to your aid if you are under attack - learn why and what you can do to make others help.

There are very few things as hard to understand as the senseless murder of a young person. Murder is never easy to come to terms with but when it is the murder of somebody young, somebody who is just starting to live, it is even harder. In my community we are struggling with such an event. On December 7, 2002 a 19-year-old girl named Breann Voth was murdered while walking to work. Her body was found a few hours later on the side of a river. She was face down and nude - she had been assaulted and murdered. As the story started to unfold it came out that several people had heard her cries for help but had done nothing; they had not even called 911. Her cries were said to have lasted over 10 minutes and still, nobody so much as called the police. Why?

The answer is a well-documented psychological phenomenon known as the Diffusion of Responsibility. Diffusion of Responsibility is a part of a bigger phenomenon known as Bystander Apathy. Bystander Apathy and the Diffusion of Responsibility happen when witnesses to a crime believe that they do not need to act to help because there are so many others around that somebody else will come to the rescue. It does not mean that these people are heartless and uncaring; it does not mean that they do not want to help; it just means that they think somebody else will do it so they do not feel as strong an urge to rise to the occasion. This phenomenon was first studied in 1964 when New York was shocked by the brutal murder of Kitty Genovese in plain sight of her neighbors.

In the Genovese case the bystanders not only heard the crime as it happened, 38 of them watched as she was assaulted and beaten to death. The assault lasted half an hour, plenty of time to either intervene or alert the police, and yet at least 38 of Kitty's neighbors did nothing but watch. In answer to this unsettling situation psychologists coined a new theory called Bystander Apathy. According to the theory Bystander Apathy only occurs in groups and the larger the group the greater the apathy. The mechanism that fuels the apathy is the Diffusion of Responsibility. It is a phenomenon that people only feel when they are in a group or when there appears to be somebody of authority (like a police officer, doctor, nurse, firefighter...) on the scene. They convince themselves that somebody else, somebody more qualified or who has a better understanding of the situation, will help so they do not have to. It is a very common reaction to an uncommon situation and it has nothing to do with how good people are, how much empathy they feel or how capable they are of helping.

Others won't always rush to your aid if you are under attack - learn why and what you can do to make others help.

This all sounds very easy on paper but when you are being attacked you will be scared and shocked. An attacker may cover your mouth to stop you from crying-out; they may even knock you unconscious. It is important that you learn basic self-defense, evasive measures and strategies on how to calm yourself down in a stressful situation. You can prepare for the unthinkable by running the scenario through in your mind at a time when you are not distracted. Yelling, "Help!" is a natural reaction because years of social learning have taught you to react to a threat in this manner; you can learn these new safety strategies the same way.

A quick list of self-defense/evasive strategies:

• Stomp on an attacker’s foot with your heel. Use all of your weight and stomp with as great a force as possible.
• Kick an attacker in the shins with your whole foot. Push hard with as great a force as possible being careful to maintain your balance so that you do not fall over.
• Gouge at an attackers eyes with your thumbs or fingers. Push hard. Use great force. If you are strong or if your attacker is the same size or smaller than you use this same technique on the hollow of the neck (just below the Adam's apple area in men).
• If an attacker has you from behind use the foot stomping technique described above AND bang the back of your head into their face/nose as hard as possible. Lean your head forward as you stomp and then with as much speed as possible smack their face with the back of your head.
• If you're attacker has their hands around your neck do not try to pull them away at the hands (as your instincts would lead you to do) instead put your arms in between their arms and with as much strength as you can muster hit out their elbows, at the same time turn your body and head in your strongest direction (left if you are left handed, right if you are right handed). Stomping on their foot or kicking at the shin while doing this can add impact and help you get away faster. As soon as the grip is loosened be ready to take a deep breath - if you don't get away the first time try again, the extra breath will give you more fighting energy.
• If you carry a personal alarm, pull it as soon as the attack begins and put it right up against the ear of your attacker. If you don't have an alarm, scream as loud as you can directly into your attackers ear. (This is a strategy you should only use if the attacker has you pinned on the ground or against a wall and if their head is close to you).
• If they are covering your mouth with their hand lick the palm of their hand (most people recoil from this instinctively) if that fails, bite - bite hard.
• It takes more energy for an attacker to recover from a miss than it does to recover from a hit. If at all possible duck and dodge any advances by your attacker.
• If you are on the ground and are able to break free push at your attacker with your feet to put distance between you. Kick at their hands, head and face as you push away from them. When they are distracted stand up and run.
• Never plan to fight an attacker and win; do only what it takes to get away from them.

Others won't always rush to your aid if you are under attack - learn why and what you can do to make others help.

When under attack there are everyday items in your school bag or purse that you can use to buy yourself some precious get away seconds.

Things you may have in your bag that can help you in an attack:

• Keys: Keys can be an excellent aid in self-defense. They can be used to gouge at eyes, to stab at the throat or to punch at the face. Put them between your fingers when you make a fist to add force to your get away punch.
• Pencils, Pens, Rulers, Geographical Compasses, Protractors: These can be used much the same way as keys and are just as effective. Again, use them to gouge at eyes, to stab at the throat or to punch at the face.
• Hairspray or aerosol breath freshener: When used at close range these two items can be sprayed in the eyes of an attacker to buy you some life saving get away seconds.
• A hand full of spare change: A bunch of loose change can be forcefully thrown in the face of an attacker to startle them and help you get time to runaway.
• A can of pop: Shaken up and sprayed at an attacker pop can act to startle them in the same way spare change can. Also, an attacker will not know what is really being sprayed at them and will act to protect themselves; they will likely put their hands up in front of their face to block the pop giving you a chance to run. The goal is to get away so anything that startles an assailant is valuable.
• Cell phone: A cell phone call to 911 at the beginning of an attack can still be valuable. Dial 911 and drop your phone. Start yelling where you are, your first name (do not yell your last name) and that you are being attacked. 911 will record what you yell and in dropping the phone your attacker will have to bend over to pick it up and disconnect the call giving you the seconds you need to start running away.
• Your bag itself: A bag packed full of school books can also help you get away. You can throw it at the assailant to put them off balance, you can swing it around to hit them and push them over or you can open it and start throwing the contents at your attacker to trip them up as you run away.

Additional links and resources: