Womens Self-Defense

Total Approach JKD (908) 685-8255 March 16, 2003

Statistics and Drills

This document is provided to give the student an understanding of the statistical data related to crimes and self-defense. This information is taken from the Report to the Nation on Crime and Justice, a document prepared every 10 years by the Bureau of Justice Statistics, a division of the Department of Justice. The Bureau also prepares specialty documents on various crime issues, which are available to the general public.

Also included in this document are a set of drills that can be practiced after the course.

Self Protective Measures

73% of crime victims used some form of self-protective measure. The most common forms of self-protective measure were resisting, running and persuading. The different measures seen when comparing completed crimes to attempted crimes can lead to an estimate of the relative success of each measure:

Attacking an offender results in more completed violence as does resisting an offender.

Running away results in fewer completed offences as does other measures. Persuasion is seen as somewhat effective in preventing a completed crime.

Awareness Drills
Teach yourself to be aware of your surroundings especially when you are alone. Expand your awareness to include dark places, under cars, behind bushes. Record details about faces and clothing on a regular basis. Listen to yourself. Make safe decisions

Use of Force
Out of all violent crimes, the victim was only the first to use force in 15% of the cases. In rape cases, the victim was first to use force 25% of the time.

Most (more than 2/3) of the time, victims felt that self-protective measures were helpful in the outcome of the situation.

Personal Weapons and Targets

Weapons Fingers Targets Eyes

Teeth
Palm Knee

Nose
Groin Fingers

The best weapon is your mind, the best target is his mind.

The Criminal & the Crime

Non-strangers are more likely to attack (and injure) you than strangers. These crimes more often involve a weapon (30% of all non-stranger crimes) 2/3 of all crimes against women are committed by spouses or exspouses. of all rape attempts are completed. Most ( of all) rapes occur in the victims home. Most rapes occur between 6pm and 12am. 40% of all rapists are complete strangers to their victims. The rape victimization rate is about 1/1400 people per year.

Self-Defense Drills
Finger magic Practice biting

Push and run, Roll and run

Blindfold targets Berserker drill

Weapons in Crime
Non-strangers are more likely to attack (and injure) you than strangers. These crimes more often involve a weapon (30% of all non-stranger crimes). Weapons are used in crimes about 30% of the time with an equal distribution between handguns, knives, and other weapons. In 84% of crimes involving handguns, the weapon was only used for intimidation. 13% involved the gun used to injure but was not fired by the assailant. 2% of victims are wounded when their attacker has a handgun and 1% are killed.

Obstacle Training
Practice obstacle training with friends, spouse.

Identify stoppers and small impromptu weapons in your environment.

Injury in Crime
Actions that are associated with lower property loss are also associated with higher likelihood of injury. Resisting an offender results in injury 40% of the time but attacking the offender results in injury between 13 and 50% of the time. Cooperating results in injury between 10 and 20% of the time.

However, a victim has the lowest risk of serious injury when they attack their assailant especially if he has no weapon. In this case, doing nothing can result in a higher incidence of serious injury.